Demons of the Earth
by friendlyneighborhoodfairy
Summary: Something is moving under the hills: something capable of consuming a whole town. Natsu collects his husband & ex-teammates to deal with it like old times. But when his & Gray's daughter might have the solution, they must decide if endangering her life is worth saving thousands. {Canon AU: Natsu & Gray are middle-aged partners & Natsu is Master of Fairy Tail. No spoilers for arcs!}
1. Homecomings

**Chapter 1: Homecomings**

 **A/N:** Originally this was just a happy little oneshot where Natsu gets back and their little family is together and it was all happy fluff. Then it turned into something with a plot…

* * *

Gray Fullbuster was sitting at the bar of the guildhall looking grumpier than he actually was.

Natsu had left to deal with some monster in the north, leaving Gray in charge of the guild. In order to keep Fairy Tail wizards from bugging him, he had affected a scowl.

Neither he or Natsu were often away from Fairy Tail these days, sitting around like the old geezers they'd become. Sipping his drink and thinking somewhat jealous thoughts about Natsu being out on an adventure, Gray wondered if it would be worth tackling a longer quest one of these days. There were a few that had been sitting around the last couple years which he could probably polish off in a few months.

Okay, _months_ might be a little too long. He'd probably get back only to have a desperate Salamander tie him to the bed for a week. Not that that sounded unpleasant, but an impatient Natsu tended to leave burns in sensitive places.

Gray made a rumbling sound in his throat: the past six _days_ were feeling too long for him. Maybe when Natsu got back, he'd give the Dragon Slayer a cold-burn for leaving.

"Gray-san," someone called, "they're back."

Gray looked up, letting his scowl slip. Romeo Conbolt stood by the door, arms crossed across his chest and a mischievous look quirking his features.

"Who is?" Gray asked, though he was already walking over.

"Erza and Ikka."

Not who Gray was expecting, but still eagerly awaited.

"They, uh, brought something back," Romeo went on. "It's…big."

He followed Romeo outside and saw immediately what that something was.

"Ikka-chan, there's no way that will fit on your trophy wall," Gray shouted down the street.

The severed head was almost too wide to pass down the street. It rested on a wheeled, stone contraption which bore a decidedly organic look and seemed to be moving of its own accord: one of Ikka's machines.

Ikka herself walked triumphantly beside it. Her jet-black hair was loose and wild like usual. She had taken to wearing all black recently, aside from the scaly white scarf around her neck, and she looked like a manic thundercloud barging up the road. Erza marched in her wake, clad in her usual light armor, trying and failing to hide her merriment at the young girl's glee.

Ikka started running when she saw Gray coming out to meet them.

"So did you succeed in your quest?" Gray asked, feigning perplexity as he caught her in his arms. "It's okay if you failed. We don't have to tell Natsu."

With a huff, Ikka tucked her face into his shoulder. "Nice to see you too, Touchan."

He squeezed her and grinned.

"You got it done in less than a week," Gray said, impressed. "When Natsu went on his first S-class quest, he took quite a bit longer. Don't forget to taunt him about that when he gets back."

"I did have Erza-san's help." Ikka's words were muffled since her face was still pressed into his shoulder. Ikka liked hugs, and despised ending them. The scarf around her neck smelled like Natsu—always smelled like Natsu—and for a minute it felt like their whole family was there.

"Your father had Erza's help too. On quite a few of his quests, actually." Over her head, Gray noticed smears of dark blue trailing down the thoroughfare behind them. "Ikka-chan, you forgot to drain the blood out of your prize."

"Oh…oops." His daughter looked up at him sheepishly. In that moment, she looked _exactly_ like the Salamander.

"This is your fault, Erza," Gray said, tucking Ikka against his side and turning to the older woman. "The mayor will be pissed. Again."

"Since when do you care what people think?" the mage shot back.

"Since that Dragon Slayer saddled me with responsibility. Though still, a fair point."

Erza chuckled. "Speaking of, I see you're wearing pants. Your reptile must still be out on his job."

"Thankfully—I mean, sadly." Gray couldn't help grinning.

Erza laughed and Ikka hit his chest in mock outrage.

He squeezed her. "Ikka-chan, you can keep the head around for Natsu to see it, but what were you planning to do with it after?"

"The horns." Her eyes glowed as she pulled away from him to point up. "They're too dangerous to leave out for scavengers. Plus, I _need_ them."

The branching array of four horns curved into cruel black spikes around the giant beast's face. Their dark color soaked in the sunlight as if they held the night inside them.

"They're not normal," Ikka said, running a hand over one. "They're actually a kind of mineral, not an organic material. It's one I've never encountered before. I couldn't manipulate them while the thing was alive, but I was hoping I could play around with it…see if I could build something."

Gray nodded in astonished pride. That Ikka used a form of Molding Magic gave him great satisfaction (and Natsu great poutiness, though in truth he was effervescently proud of their daughter). But Ikka used her Mineral Make powers in a very different way from Gray.

She was all about building things: contraptions, engines, machines – all created in the blink of an eye.

Many ran on her magic power, but others were static forms which stayed together after she created them. Those required an application of force to get them working, but could do an amazing variety of tasks, from making tea, to putting exploded objects back together with a simple input of magic power.

She'd invented quite a number of hassle-saving devices which they used daily around the guild (particularly the Put-Back-Together-er—it wasn't Fairy Tail if something wasn't exploding). She was always collecting rocks and other things to see what she could affect. Ikka was a black hole of curiosity, eating knowledge the way her dragon father ate fire.

Gray walked over to run a hand along one of the horns. They were as big around as a hundred-year cherry tree and totally smooth, and also…had an absence of heat?

"Is it cold?" he asked, unsure if his cold-immune palm was pinning down the sensation correctly.

Ikka nodded. "It doesn't absorb any heat whatsoever!"

"Same with its hide," Erza said. "That made it hard to do any damage until we started using the cold against it. We redirected a river," she added, at Gray's curious expression.

"Wish I'd gotten to see that," he laughed, running a hand through his hair. He looked up at the beast head again. The monster had clearly been the size of a house and he wondered for a moment why he'd never seen this species before. "Ikka, I sense long days holed up in your workshop in the future. Just don't forget to eat."

To his surprise, she shook her head with vehemence.

"Erza-san says she'll take me on another S-class quest. I want to leave as soon as Touchan gets back."

Gray glanced at Erza, who tried not to look smug.

"She wants to get in as much experience as she can," the requip wizard said with a shrug.

Ikka had been begging to go on harder quests for—well, her whole life. Now that she was actually old enough and strong enough to do so, Natsu had said she needed to accompany older mages on at least six S-class quests before he'd even consider including her in the yearly trials.

Ikka thought he was being unnecessarily hard. Gray knew Natsu was trying to protect her, both from scorn for being the Master's daughter and from physical danger. Natsu was the kind of parent who daily fretted his child would be eaten by a monster.

Gray, on the other hand, trusted Ikka. She lost her first family in the same way he lost his—though gods be damned she was even younger. _Three-year-olds shouldn't wake screaming every night from those kinds of nightmares._

Consequently, he understood that he couldn't, ultimately, protect her. If he could have, Gray would've gotten to that demon _before_ it took everything away from her and left her plagued with flashbacks of blood and fire. No, all Gray could do was give her what she needed to be strong. Just as he and Natsu had done for each other.

"I have to be honest," Erza spoke up, "I have nothing else to do right now. There haven't been any urgent quests or Council problems or world-ending dark magic… I'm a little bored. Life is exponentially more interesting when you're watching young minds try to figure out how to be destructive."

Gray barked a laugh. "I thought you got enough of that growing up with us."

 _Still, Natsu will be proud Ikka's taking this seriously._ The thought made him miss the Salamander. Just a little bit.

They got Ikka's severed head 'put away'—a.k.a. set down in the large workshop behind the guild—and then the girl ran off to find her best friend Siva, a young wind mage.

Along with Erza, Gray went back to lurking at the bar, though he wasn't sulking now as he listened to the blow-by-blow of his daughter's battle.

"Redirecting the river was all your Ikka," Erza told him. "She took a stance and all of a sudden there were dams in place and a flood headed toward us. She didn't even have to scout the area. None of the surrounding towns were hurt: she had it flowing right back to its riverbed and nothing more than a little stretch of forest was affected."

"I wish I'd been there," he admitted. "It sounds spectacular."

Erza's look turned contemplative.

"It's good you weren't, Gray. Your magic could've taken that thing down without any help. For that matter, I have snow armor that probably would've done enough. But it forced Ikka into a corner and she _shone._ She doesn't lose her creativity in a fight: she increases it. Your daughter is impressive. I mean that."

Erza praising someone like that was significant. Beaming warmly, Gray decided that tonight they would have Ikka's favorite food for dinner.

As afternoon wore on toward evening, the two were joined by Mirajane, their conversation turning to other things. Gray began to feel antsy as the sun slanted lower and lower through the windows.

"Gray," Erza said, "you keep looking at the clock. Are you expecting him back today?"

"Mm. We have a bet about how long it will take him."

"What does the winner get?" Mirajane asked, a mischievous look in her eye.

"Not telling." Grinning, he took gulp of his drink and said casually, "Erza, I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but this thing Natsu's taking care of…he's out with Lucy. She's the one who brought it to our attention."

Erza stiffened.

"I did not know that."

"They'll be coming back any hour now. I believe she plans to stay in town a few days and catch up with people."

Erza nodded, fiddling with a lock of her hair, which was just starting to fade at the temples from red to blondish-white. With the sad expression on her face, she suddenly looked old and worn.

"Erza, why don't you just talk to her?" Mirajane asked, trying to be gentle, though Gray didn't know why she was bothering at all. Erza wouldn't answer that question.

Erza opened her mouth.

"I just—"

"He's back!"

Ikka's shriek overtook the whole guild as she ran through the hall. Every head turned toward the door: everyone knew who she meant.

Gray rose, not even making it one step before his husband strode in.

Gray felt his chest squeeze just looking at him. Natsu's pink hair was ever the unruly mess, his face flushed with usual exuberance, and his gait full of confidence even though he was clearly tired. _The Master of Fairy Tail is back._

Round and blonde with a gaze that just grew fiercer with each passing year, Lucy entered beside the Dragon Slayer, her left arm and shoulder encased in armor. She wore a small frown, but it lightened quickly as Ikka pounced.

"Touchan!" Ikka shouted, flying at Natsu.

The Salamander lit up with a beaming grin. Ikka slammed into him with full force, her black hair wrapping around them like a cloud. Even though she was close to his height now, Natsu swung her around easily and crushed her in a giant hug.

"I'm back," he said. "Miss me?"

Any response she had was lost in the embrace.

She might be fourteen now and more grown up than some her age, but with her fathers, she was always a child. She hated seeing them go; Gray knew she feared every time it would be the last she ever saw of them. When they came back alive and hale, it was like a miracle had dawned on her world.

"I have so much to show you!" she said, looking up at Natsu with glowing eyes.

"I can't wait." He grinned in eagerness, his own childish delight emerging. Still holding her, Natsu yelled to the guild at large, "Alright, I'm home, brats! Gray-sama is off duty. You can go back to misbehaving."

Giggles and cheers echoed from the younger mages.

"It's in the workshop," Ikka told him. "I've been _waiting and waiting_ to show you."

"Take me there! Although first," he said, turning to Gray, "I should probably hug this one."


	2. Peace Before the Storm

**Chapter 2: Peace Before the Storm**

Gray crossed the room to his returned Dragon Slayer. He refused to run, though he couldn't help smiling at seeing his two favorite people so effervescently happy. Ikka was snuggling as close to Natsu as she had with Gray earlier. All her people were _home_. Gray had a similar sentiment.

He and Natsu might not let eagerness show (not in front of the guild, at least), but Natsu still wrapped Gray in a fierce embrace. Gray felt the Salamander's arms like bands of steel around him, and gripped him back just as tightly. A delightful line of heat burned against Gray's bare chest where Natsu's vest was open for skin-on-skin contact.

Home.

The Dragon Slayer didn't stop there. To Gray's utter surprise, Natsu kissed him: smashed his mouth against Gray's and chewed his lip. Right there in front of the entire guild.

They never did this here, in front of the kids. Gray wasn't into public affection (after thirty years together, he still got embarrassed) and Natsu wanted to maintain the respect of his charges. But as scalding lips moved against Gray's, a breath of steam emerged between them before Gray could reign in his sigh.

It ended too quickly, but as Gray's mind cleared, he went on high alert. Natsu was still holding him hard enough to press the breath from his lungs and he'd just kissed him rather passionately in front of everyone without a second thought. Too out of character.

Something was wrong.

Little wrinkles of worry hovered around Natsu's face. Seeing the closed look in Natsu's eyes, Gray didn't ask questions. But as they separated, he kept a hand loosely at Natsu's waist, a reminder: _I'm here._

"Haven't seen you two kids make out like that in a while," Lucy teased, coming over and giving Gray a hug. "And here I thought passion died out of marriage after the first few years."

"There's a reason we sound-proofed our bedroom," Natsu smirked, causing Gray to blush and punch his shoulder. Natsu rubbed the injured spot in pretend annoyance, pouting at Gray.

"Obachan, this is nothing," Ikka told Lucy. "They're all over each other at home."

"We are not," Gray protested, his face heating up because it was true.

"Are to," Ikka said. "It'd be weird if you weren't: you're married."

Gray blushed further, while Natsu snickered.

The wild-haired young girl turned and pulled on Natsu's free hand. "Please, Touchan, come to the workshop. _You_ of all people need to see what I brought back. You'll love it—or possibly hate it."

"Brought back?" Lucy asked, tilting her head.

"I completed my second S-class quest! Accompanied, of course. But I brought back the most unique set of horns _ever_."

"Ah, that explains the blood," Lucy said, nodding her head toward the door.

Ikka pulled her cutest, most repentant smile and looked at Natsu. "Sorry. I may have spilled a bit on my way through town."

"It happens." Natsu waved an airy hand. "I'd be ashamed to call you my daughter if you didn't mark up Magnolia at least once."

"When you wreck the town more times than your fathers have, it'll be time to talk," Lucy said.

Ikka laughed.

"So who took you, Ikka-chan?" Natsu asked.

"Erza-san went with me. She's taking me on another this week, too."

"How exciting," Lucy said, but her eyes held pain behind them. Gray only noticed because he was looking for it. He glanced back at the bar and saw that the redhead in question had vanished.

"Come on! Let's see the horns." Now it was Natsu dragging them toward the back of the guild. He called, "If anyone starts dying, I'm in the workshop!"

The four of them trotted out back, Lucy looking curious.

They reached the guild's large workshop, a separate building they'd erected after Ikka and Romeo each managed to destroy the main hall on separate occasions. While belonging to everyone in Fairy Tail, it was generally full at least halfway with Ikka's things.

She had tools upon tools lining the walls, many she'd made herself, which anyone could use. One entire table was full of not-quite-right inventions she was trying to perfect, taken apart so she could see the inside and figure out what she imagined wrong when she used her Make magic.

Right now, the monster head took up most of the room, horns stretching from corner to corner.

"The whole head," Natsu said, voice overflowing with pride. "You efficient little automaton."

"The horns are a mineral," Ikka explained, waving the three adults closer. She looked about ready to burst. "Feel it!"

Lucy stretched out a hand and frowned. Natsu left the reach of Gray's touch in order to place his hand on it.

He leapt back, eyes wide.

Natsu placed two hands on it. Then sniffed it. Then his hands burst into flame. Nothing happened: the horn remained unchanged.

"Fire resistant?" he asked in amazement.

"Resistant to _all_ kinds of heat!" Ikka bounced over. "Go into the Dragon Force and see if it does anything!"

Natsu gave her a skeptical look, but the workshop was proofed against fire—that had been the first thing they did to it, naturally.

"You won't hurt it," Ikka assured him. "Although if you do, I want another one."

Smiling at that, Natsu let his body burst into a ball of red fire.

Scales emerged around his eyes and down his cheeks, the definition of muscle in his arms growing starker. His fang-like canines were longer, and Gray knew the Salamander's pupils were narrow slits, a look he only got in the Dragon Force—or when fucking his mate into oblivious heaven. Gray was the only person who knew about that.

Natsu tentatively put one hand on the horn.

Nothing. As he held his hand there, the black mineral didn't melt, didn't char, didn't smoke. There was no scent of anything burning.

Natsu was surprised enough that his fire winked out, scales falling away.

"This is…amazing, Ikka. I don't know what to say."

"Yeah," she agreed. The reverence in her voice sounded worshipful. "I don't know what I want to build with it, but if it resists even your fire, it could be a powerful weapon."

"And a dangerous one." Natsu stared up at the gory head for a long minute. A bit of worry crept into his eyes. "I'd like to keep this locked up, gearhead-chan. I don't trust anyone outside the guild working on it."

Ikka nodded, face solemn for once. "I know. When anyone asked me what it was, I said it was a trophy to prove what I did. Nobody outside you three and Erza know about the horns.

Natsu put an arm around her.

"I'm really impressed. With the quest—all of it."

"Thank you, Tousan."

Her cheeks turned pink. Natsu's praise was by no means infrequent, but it was always earned. He didn't notice her reaction, as he was readjusting the scarf around her neck. It'd been years since he put it on her, and Gray wasn't certain she'd taken it off once in all that time.

Natsu went to lightly punch her and Ikka darted back, his knuckles barely grazing her. Suddenly they were both grinning.

"So does this successful mission mean your reflexes have improved, Ikka-chan?" Natsu asked.

Ikka slunk into a crouch and beckoned.

A layered structure appeared before her as Natsu sent a gout of flames her way. They wouldn't harm her—his magic couldn't. Something parental and instinctual, he'd told Gray once. But it was still hot enough to make her sweat.

Her defensive wall rebuffed the flames in an arc, curling them back toward their originator. Laughing, Natsu dodged his own hit and sent a fist into the structure, causing it to crumble.

Behind it, Ikka had raised three trebuchets from the dust, all of which shot off at once. Her father ducked and whipped long tongues of fire in her direction.

"They always do this, don't they?" Lucy asked, taking a stand beside Gray.

"Oh yes. It's the best spectator sport," Gray said, a twinkle in his eye. "Plus it tires him out so I have an easier win later."

"Speaking of wins later…" Lucy gave him a quick up-and-down, raising her eyebrows. "Getting ahead of ourselves?"

Gray looked down. "Gods dammit."

Lucy burst into tinkling laughter.

"Just typical," he sighed, surveying the surrounding area for his clothes. At the very least his boxers. Because of course, his body was reacting happily to the sight of Natsu fighting: muscles tensing, feet moving with grace, the handsome face lit with fire and joy…

"You do know you're the weirdest family in Fairy Tail," Lucy laughed, tears in her eyes.

"I believe Natsu claims that title with pride," Gray said. "On the plus side, this particular habit of mine made it easy to explain the male side of sexuality to Ikka."

Lucy snorted in surprise. "Dear gods. What did you do; show and tell?"

"Don't be a pervert," Gray frowned at her. "She'd seen everything already at that point."

Lucy's laughter redoubled, until she bent over with her hands on her knees. Gray was having a hard time keeping a serious face.

"We went over everything from contraception to physiological reactions to relationships," he said. "We made sure she got a complete education. And Natsu was the one who couldn't stop blushing, in case you were wondering."

"I did know that, actually." Lucy chuckled. "Ikka asked me one time why anyone would be embarrassed about bodies and sex. I said they wouldn't because there's nothing to be ashamed of, and that's when she told me he couldn't talk about it without turning red."

"What did you say?"

"I told her Natsu is special and not to gauge too much on his reactions."

Gray laughed.

"It's true in a lot of things," Lucy added. "His behavior toward girls, his propensity for fighting…"

"Well, he was raised by a dragon. And he was able to talk normally with girls by the time you arrived at Fairy Tail."

"If you call this normal." Lucy grinned and turned back to the fight still playing out before them. Ikka had Natsu on the defensive—at first because he had let her, and now because she was pressing the advantage.

Gray noticed a dark pile in the grass just beyond the wide workshop doors and went to retrieve his pants.

He'd tried so hard to keep his clothes on after they got Ikka, but he was in his mid-thirties at that point and the habit was as ingrained as it could get. But they'd found to Gray's relief that Ikka was too young to think it awkward if one of her daddies walked around in the nude, so the habit had remained unchallenged.

By the time Ikka grew up, it was the daily norm. Nowadays she looked askance at people who inquired after Gray's 'weird stripping thing.' It was who he was: what his magic was.

She even seemed to like the fact that he was always shirtless. As a toddler, she'd constantly press her small face against his skin and stay that way for hours, breathing hot breaths on his chest.

She'd needed the ever-present contact back then. Holding her wasn't enough. She would tuck her head into his or Natsu's neck while her little nails dug into arms or any other bare skin she could reach, seeking the heat of humanity and holding on for dear life.

So terrified they would leave her. So terrified of being alone again.

Gray pulled his pants on and returned to find his spouse and child flopped on the floor of the workshop.

"Tired already?" he teased, kicking Natsu's foot.

"I just came back from a hard mission, I'll have you know. Lucy can attest."

"I don't doubt it." Gray gave him a quick look: _we're talking later._

"Can we go home now?" Ikka asked.

"Already?" Gray said, surprised. "No experiments to do this evening?"

"I miss home."

At the sound of her soft voice, Natsu blinked rapidly and pulled the wild girl into an awkward floor hug. Her fear of losing her family always hit him hard.

"We're right here," the Salamander whispered.

Gray watched them. If Natsu was this emotional, it was probably best to go home before anything went up in flames by accident. Gray was growing more and more anxious to learn what dark thing had happened on his quest.

"Do you have a place to stay?" Gray asked Lucy.

"Don't worry about me." She winked at him. "I asked Levy and Gajeel if I could crash."

Ikka stood up and went to hug her. "It's good to have you back, Obachan."

"Thank you. I look forward to hearing all about your mission at some point."

Lucy gave them another round of hugs before heading off in the direction of the guildhall. Natsu began trying to heft the beast head onto a shoulder: its current position prevented the workshop doors from being closed. Natsu eventually lifted it up and took a few heavy steps.

"Need some help, old man?" Gray laughed.

"I'd like to see you get this far," Natsu said, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

Gray snorted, stretching to put his muscles on display. "I bet you would, fire face."

"I've got it," Ikka said, shaking her head at her parents. "It is my monster."

Ikka put her hands together and her magic brought a vehicular shape bubbling up from the ground. Gray felt a swell of pride at her flawless form, her feet spreading unconsciously into a wider stance. She was so perfect.

Natsu coughed in his ear.

"You're getting sentimental," he said, looping an arm over Gray's shoulders.

"Says the man who was tearing up a moment ago."

"Obviously several days is too long for us to be gone," Natsu said, voice loud enough for Ikka to hear. She looked up quickly, worry creasing her face.

Dear gods, if _she_ got emotional, it was all over.

"Missing you two is good for me," Gray said firmly, kissing Natsu in demonstration, happy to be without public audience this time. "It makes it all the more special when I get to drag your tired butts home."

Smiling, Ikka squeezed unabashedly between them, forcing their arms to include her. With a flick of her hands, her wheeled contraption completed its journey across the workshop and turned into a stationary table.

When they closed the wide doors, Gray made a seal of ice, focusing a few moments to make it extra cold. Natsu was right: the horns were a dangerous weapon. A weapon that could kill a Fire Dragon Slayer.

Natsu waited until he was done and then drew a protective spell Gray had only seen him use a few times. If anyone could get into the workshop, Gray would be extremely surprised. Natsu was taking no chances.

"I'm hungry," Ikka noted as they set out three in a row toward home.

"Me too," Natsu said. "Wanna see who can eat more?"

It was an old game, Natsu versus Ikka and Gray. Alone, the non-dragons had no hope of winning, so Natsu let them team up together.

"I'd put my money on me and Ikka this time," Gray said. "She did just come back from defeating a monster practically by herself."

Natsu wiggled his eyebrows. "We'll see."

For dinner they made Ikka's favorites: miso soup and chirashi sushi. It was easy enough to make but the three of them still created a mess of the kitchen as they kept bumping into each other on purpose. Gray made Natsu flash-heat the soup so they could eat before Natsu or Ikka started chewing on the walls in their impatience.

Like father, like daughter.

Daughter was even more alike to father this time, as she ate almost as much as Natsu, allowing her and Gray to claim their fourth victory of all time.

While Gray took pity and cleaned up the dishes, his two mages curled up on the sofa discussing Ikka's monster and all the ways she could've defeated it. Natsu was of the opinion that her flood method was the flashiest, and thus best, way she could've gone about it. Gray watched them as Ikka yawned and put her head on Natsu's shoulder.

Whenever Ikka wasn't looking at him, Natsu's forehead would begin to develop wrinkles of worry again.

Eventually, Ikka declared she was "not going to bed to _sleep_ —I'm not that tired—I'm just going to go read up on the horns." But she yawned while she said it, making Natsu laugh.

Sending him a mock-glare, Ikka closed her bedroom door.

Before Gray could join him on the sofa, Natsu had bounded up and wrapped his arms around Gray from behind.

"Missed me?" Gray teased.

"Yes."

Gray frowned and asked the forbidden question. "Are you alright?"

"Yemph," Natsu said into his shoulder.

Gray sighed and twisted around in the embrace. Natsu face was pinched but he wasn't meeting Gray's eyes, instead running a hand through Gray's hair.

"You're getting as gray as your name," Natsu joked, but his smile was unable to rid itself of sadness.

Gray kissed him. "You've made that joke," Gray kissed him again, "about a thousand times."

"So?"

"Am I to understand I'll have to put up with this for another few decades?" Gray snorted, and noticed that Natsu smiled sincerely at that. "At some point it's going to turn white, you know. Then you'll have to come up with a new punch line."

Natsu's grin could've lit the sun. "I look forward to it."

Gray leaned in and kissed him again, more insistent.

"If we're making jokes about age," Gray said, "there are a few things I could say about you…"

"Alright, that's enough, icicle," Natsu interrupted. "I've been missing you for six days. Kiss me already."

"What do you think I'm doing?"

Natsu interrupted by taking Gray's face in his hands and finally kissing him back, hot and firm. As their tongues intertwined, Gray inhaled the roiling warmth that had defined love for him for over thirty years.

Natsu started fighting him for tongue space, making Gray laugh around the kiss. He shoved the Salamander lightly, causing Natsu to shove back. But Gray tripped him so he fell onto the couch, Gray on top of him, and before they knew it, they were in a wrestling match, lips still locked, scrambling for purchase.

They thunked off the couch onto the floor, ending with Natsu on top but Gray's legs pinning his down, and each of them holding one of the other's hands. Natsu broke away from the kiss laughing.

"I love you."

He seemed to have momentarily forgotten his stress.

Gray pulled him closer. Natsu let him, collapsing onto the ice mage's chest.

"I suppose we shouldn't do this sort of thing in the living room," Gray commented, bucking his hips up suggestively. "We've scarred Ikka enough for her lifetime."

Chuckling, Natsu's eyes fluttered closed, contented but tense again already. Gray sighed.

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked.

"It's…not good." Natsu shifted his chin so he could look Gray in the eye. "I kind of hoped to avoid the subject until tomorrow."

Gray stared at him. Those words only made Gray more worried. Things weren't going to get anywhere spicy while they were both this anxious.

"I have an idea," he said, pushing them up into a sitting position. "Come on a walk with me."

Natsu blinked at him. "Okay." Then his eyes narrowed. "What's on this walk?"

"Just come with me," Gray said, pulling him up.


	3. What They Found in the Woods

**Chapter 3: What They Found In the Woods**

 **A/N:** Teensy-tiny spoiler ahead regarding Gray's magic and the Tartaros arc. Only about his abilities, not where/why/how.

 **A/N 2:** I managed to contract some sort of stomach flu and I hate my life right now. I'm posting the chapters I have ready for this and Overcome, but updates will pause for a little bit as I go snuggle up with tea and old episodes of Fairy Tail.

* * *

They stepped out into the cold night together, Natsu glowing ever so slightly as his inner heater kicked in.

As they headed toward the dirt path, they passed the sign that read, _Natsu & Gray & Ikka_, in an assortment of colors and handwritings. The top _Natsu &_ portion was actually a different piece of wood altogether, with a rough edge where _Happy_ had been removed. They passed that sign a few meters on, along with its addition reading _& Carla  & __.

"They still haven't named the egg," Gray commented.

"Happy says they're waiting for it to hatch."

"I thought Exceeds named the egg as soon as it was laid?"

Natsu shrugged. "I think Carla wanted to do things differently than tradition."

He took Gray's hand and they continued on in companionable silence, following the road as it wended through autumn-red trees.

Natsu began to hum, a progression of notes that meandered to no particular song. Gray knew if he looked over, he'd see the pleasant flush in Natsu's face that the outdoors always brought. If it weren't for a need for privacy and keeping Ikka warm and sheltered, they would probably live outside.

He loved Natsu like this.

Pulling up at the next bend, Gray pulled him into a slow kiss, and finally, _finally_ , Natsu leaned in and returned it fully. Not anxious, not teasing, not fighting, just _them_.

Gray ran his fingers up Natsu's sides, pulling him closer. With a happy groan, Natsu frotted against him and pushed his tongue deeper into Gray's mouth. Natsu's eagerness had Gray instantly aroused, digging his nails into his mate's shoulders, asking, begging.

He couldn't help smiling as Natsu's hands traveled over him, as if they were two teens running off to make out and nervously touch each other in the woods, back in the days when they were trying to keep their relationship secret from the guild. As if that were possible.

Gray kissed his way down Natsu's neck while the latter slipped mischievous hands inside Gray's pants. Gray shuddered. When he pushed down Natsu's scarf—a black scaly thing Ikka had made out of pure rock but which moved like silk—and nipped at the scar there, it was all over.

Sometime later they were lying in a clearing of flattened and slightly singed underbrush, both of them breathing deeply. Gray decided this floating feeling of serenity would be worth never going on another quest again.

Natsu perched so his head was propped up on Gray's chest and met his gaze.

"Promise me there'll be plenty more of this in the coming weeks, because that will make facing this thing a hell of a lot more pleasant."

"I definitely promise," Gray assured him. "What is this 'thing' we're facing?"

Natsu took a deep breath.

"It's not one thing: it's twenty, maybe even thirty of them. Once we realized what they were, Lucy wouldn't let me get close enough to do a full inspection, so it was hard to tell their numbers. All I know for certain is that they're almost as fire-resistant as Ikka's new pair of horns."

"Shit," Gray said. "That's never good."

"No, it isn't."

Natsu seemed to realize he hadn't actually explained anything and ran a hand through his hair. Pink spikes pointed in all directions.

"Lemme start over. We first went out there because Lucy kept hearing reports from people of hills moving, mountains appearing out of nowhere one day and being gone the next, and other weird phenomena."

"Really?" Gray raised his eyebrows. "You left in a pretty big hurry considering that's all you knew."

"Yeah, well, that wasn't all." Natsu grimaced, avoiding Gray's eyes. "A town had disappeared. Wiped completely off the map. No sign of it or anyone who lived there, except for…except for one small boy who is so traumatized he refuses to speak to anyone."

Gray's heart cracked, heavy as water and empty as air. Natsu was watching him closely.

"Yeah," the Salamander whispered. "That's why I didn't tell you. I'm sorry."

"It's…fine," Gray stuttered. "Fine you didn't tell me, I mean. I would've worried a lot more if I knew that whatever monster you guys were after had done…that."

Natsu ran his fingers through Gray's hair over and over, his face soft. The movement was calming, helping Gray relax without either of them having to say what shouldn't be said.

"Just—before you go on," Gray said, interrupting the silence, "what happened to the boy? Is he alright—are people taking care of him?"

"Yeah, he's alright," Natsu murmured, hand still in Gray's hair. "Had a pair of aunts a few train stops down who heard right away and came to take him in. I checked them out, too. He'll be cared for well."

"Okay," Gray sighed. "Good. Thank you."

Natsu was still looking at him. The Dragon Slayer gave a questioning little nod, and Gray nodded back. "Go on."

"It took us a few days until we found anything," Natsu said. "It's difficult to pin down mountains that keep moving. But Lucy figured out all the sightings were clustered around this one forest, so we went in.

"Sure enough: came to a valley where it looked almost like cats moving under a comforter. Bumps under the land that moved around, but big and loud and cracking stones as they went. And then…one of them gave birth."

Gray gaped while Natsu unconsciously tapped his fingers across Gray's temple.

"That's seriously what it was," he said. "One of the hills burst open and this thing crawled out. I can't explain it. It looked just like a kitten breaking the shell and crawling out of its egg. Only way uglier and huger. We kept watch for a whole day and saw two others born. Since we hadn't seen any before that, Lucy thinks we witnessed the first hatching.

"But people will see those creatures soon enough. They're demons, Gray. Demons as tall as small hills and already powerful with magic." Natsu shook his head. "Like I said, they're resistant to fire, which I know because I lit the forest near one of them to try to burn it—Lucy didn't want us announcing our presence directly—and even when it was surrounded by flames, it didn't burn or even squeal."

"Damn." _Demons._ Gray's mind was already spinning, packing, preparing to leave.

"Yeah."

"Shit," Gray repeated, "how can there be demons coming out of the ground? That makes no sense."

"I know. There's no book, no Zeref, nothing: it shouldn't be possible. It's like the earth just decided to give birth to several dozen monsters. We're pretty sure the town and the disappearing mountains were eaten by the demons while they were growing underground. Luckily while they're down there, pre-born, they can't seem to get more than thirty kilometers away from that central forest. No other towns lie in the vicinity."

"But they're coming out of the earth now, so that's not going to mean anything much longer," Gray said. "We should evacuate the area."

Natsu nodded slowly.

"We haven't told anyone. Wanted to tell you guys first and decide together. Lucy thinks warning Fiore will only cause panic."

"We have to get the people out of there! We can't just let other towns get destroyed!" Gray shot upright, sending Natsu tumbling back.

"We will," Natsu insisted, grabbing his arm. Steel entered the Dragon Slayer's expression. "Trust me, we will. We'll just tell them something different. Not demons: something else that will get them out of there. I don't know, a wildfire or something."

"Wildfire isn't much better in terms of panic."

"A plague. Whatever. We can come up with that later. Point is we'll to deal with these things."

"Yes we will," Gray said firmly, slumping back down. Natsu's chin reclaimed its position on Gray's chest.

"Are you going to be okay?" Natsu asked after a moment.

"Yes. It's not like this is the first time I've faced demons since then," he said wryly, and Natsu chuckled. "I'm more worried about Ikka."

Natsu swallowed. "Oh gods, yeah. She only stopped having nightmares a few years ago."

"We don't have to tell her, you know. If we're not telling most people anyway."

"I would've agreed with you," Natsu said, "but after seeing those horns of hers, I'm not sure. The monster she and Erza faced could be related to these demons somehow. It smelled different, but fire resistance that strong isn't common."

"If cold can defeat the ones you found, I can make pretty quick work of them," Gray said, shrugging. "Devil Slayer magic can do it anyway, though thirty is a bit many. But if they cave to ice as well," Gray smirked, "I might be able to take them all out on my own."

"I know." Natsu had an indefinable look in his face, almost uncertain. "That's assuming they aren't any-temperature-resistant."

Gray shoveled himself up onto one shoulder, his chest pressing against the Salamander's.

"We've got this," Gray said, confused at the way Natsu's muscles were tightening into knots. "Obviously, it's serious. We need to get over there fast, evacuate people, and solve the problem before it gets any bigger.

"But I can deal with the demons, and Erza's picked up some new swords in recent years that might help as well. Your fire may not be able to damage them, but you can cause enough destruction to keep them hemmed into the forest and not spreading to the surrounding areas. Easy. Well, not easy, but you get what I mean. No reason to worry."

Natsu stared at him with wide, sad eyes, and it struck Gray that Natsu wasn't anxious: he was insecure.

"Yeah," Natsu said at least. "You're right."

"Damn right I am." Gray grabbed his arm in a hard grip. "Since when did the Master of Fairy Tail think his mages couldn't handle a fight?"

"Since never." Natsu's voice hardened to its usual surety. Leaning in, he kissed Gray again, cool and warm, soft and solid.

"There's just one more thing," Gray said when they broke apart. "You said the team…?"

"You, me, Lucy, Erza, and Happy," Natsu said, as if this were obvious. "Wendy and Chelia, too, if they'll come. They'd be of some help."

Gray didn't argue this lineup. He had another concern.

"And Lucy and Erza…?"

"They need to get along."

"It's not that simple, hothead," Gray snorted.

"Yes, actually, it is. Shit happened. People slept with other people. It all happened years ago. It's about time they made up and started talking again."

"You're the overprotective Dragon Slayer," Gray reasoned. "You of all people should understand."

Natsu shook his head firmly.

"After seven years all scents wear off, except in a few extreme cases. When the scent is gone, you can't be protective anymore. It's been eight years for them. They need to forgive each other."

"Fine." Gray sighed in resignation. "I just hope you have a way to persuade them both to come along."

"People are in danger. They won't say no."

Though he kept quiet, Gray had his doubts. Sure, Erza and Lucy were both the types to protect others at all costs. But when someone knowingly slept with the person their best friend was in love with, things were different. He should know: Juvia still couldn't be in the same room as Natsu without a downpour starting.

They'd just have to deal with the hostility as it came.

Both men rose, but when Gray went to grab his clothes, Natsu snatched them out of his grasp.

"There's nobody out," the Salamander said, his grin impish. "Might as well walk home in the nude and enjoy the view."

Despite himself, Gray laughed. "But Ikka—"

"We'll just sneak in the back window. Like old times."

"You're acting practically young again, Natsu. Or should I say, squinty eyes." Gray smiled.

"Snow queen," Natsu growled back.

"Flame brain."

"Icy pervert."

"Yes, but I'm _your_ pervert," Gray said.

"True. Now get that sexy ass moving."

Gray snorted. "You can't order me around. No matter how good you look."

"But our bed is that way."

"Well, when you put it like that…" Grinning, Gray took Natsu's hand and started walking toward home.


	4. Blood of My Own

**Chapter 4: Blood of My Own**

Natsu arrived at the guild sometime after his two family members, though still earlier than he would've liked. His anxiety had woken him as soon as Gray left the bed and sleep evaded him after that, so he figured he might as well start getting things done.

Erza and Gray were at the bar when he walked in, with Mira standing at a discreet eavesdropping distance. As soon as a few of the other early-risers called out to him, Gray and Erza both whirled around, the redhead glaring while Gray grimaced significantly. Apparently the get-along-already conversation was not going well.

Before he could reach them, Ikka bounded up asking him to unlock the workshop.

"Gray-tou said you wanted me to do some research on my prize," she said, curiosity lighting her face. "He already took down the protective ice."

"Ah. Yes." The guildmaster scrubbed a hand through his hair. "I was hoping…Lucy and I have some questions about its fire resistance. How it works, what kind of magic does work on it, any other properties."

Ikka frowned. "This has to do with your mission, doesn't it?"

"Mm," he said noncommittally, leading the way to the back. He wasn't awake enough to broach the topic of demons with her right now.

Behind the guild, Romeo was sprawled on the grass waiting for them.

"Why was it all sealed up this morning?" the young man asked, motioning at the workshop. "I couldn't get in."

"There are some sensitive things in there." Natsu noted the grudging look Romeo wore and quirked a smile. "You tried melting Gray's ice, didn't you?"

Romeo crossed his arms. "Maybe."

"Yeah, sorry but that's never going to work. You realize now why he's one of our top mages?"

"Ugh. Yes, I do."

Grinning, the Dragon Slayer walked past him to the door, held out his hand, and began to undo the Fairy Tail seal.

The magic felt different, slippery where it should be hard. Something was definitely off, the magic was in motion, and—

Fire exploded from the workshop doors, walls, every surface that had been magically sealed. Even while he went on high alert, Natsu couldn't help sneering at how pathetic the attack was. Instinctually he did what he did best: swallow the flames.

Only it wasn't just fire. Oh hell, it was so much more than fire. There was other magic in the mix, something he couldn't digest, couldn't even swallow, and it was burning his throat…

Then Ikka screamed.

That sound of pure pain activated every beastly part of him. Whirling in search of her, he had to squint through the unnatural smoke and yellow vapor as the non-flames rained down. Ikka should never scream like that. Ever.

He saw her on the ground and threw himself around her protectively. But she was burning. Her skin bubbled like wax, boiling away, exposing rents of flesh on her arms and neck. Her hands tried to cover her face as the vapor coalesced over her like a malignant force, and this was wrong, so wrong, every smell of her terror and blood, _no no no._

Natsu inhaled, drawing the poisonous whatever-it-was away from her face so she could breathe, but more just kept coming, like it was drawn to her. He couldn't hold it in anymore: whatever it was he'd tried to swallow soared up his throat and he vomited magic plasma onto the grass. Fuck, his mouth was blistered and everything inside him was starting to pound with a dull ache. Dark magic was working through his blood. This couldn't happen to him now when Ikka was wounded; he could _not_ be incapacitated now.

When he pulled her against his chest, he could feel the heat emanating off her skin. Or what remained of it. The scent of blood and iron was overwhelming that of singed flesh. She was dying in his arms—fuck no. Natsu crawled forward, keeping his back to the fire, her head tucked under his chin. _Out._ That was all he could think. He had to get her out of here.

Ikka's racing pulse roaring in his ears kept him from noticing the rain of fire and plasma thinning. Funny how one heartbeat could be louder than everything else. It wasn't until he heard Gray shouting that the outside world broke through.

"Let me see her! Let me see, Natsu!"

Even though it was his beloved, Natsu took a few moments to relinquish her. As soon as she was out of his arms, he felt like he was dying. If he just kept holding her, she'd be alright… Ikka had always been alright in his arms before.

As he lay on his back, panting, he realized he could feel burns on his face and chest. Shit. This had never happened to him before. Was this acid? It certainly felt like his throat was dissolving, esophagus screaming at him with each raw breath.

Gray was coating Ikka in ice. Covering her, throat to toe, and more across her bleeding cheeks. Natsu was aware of so many things at once: the sharp tang of Gray's fear, Ikka's now erratic pulse, and the fact that the cast of ice couldn't mask the constantly-fresh scent of her blood.

And she wasn't screaming anymore.

"Ikka…"

Rolling onto his side felt impossible as the poisonous magic worked deeper into his body, but Natsu managed it anyway. Ikka's face was a breath away, her eyes closed.

"Ikka-chan," he whispered, breath ragged, "it's okay now. Wake up. Ikka? You have to stay awake…"

"She's unconscious," Erza said above him, her voice breaking.

Natsu's thoughts were furious. _Nobody will break today. Not while I am Master._ He was having trouble seeing, objects not coming into focus, which made it hard to glare fiercely at people like he wanted to.

"Where's Happy?" Gray demanded. "Or Carla, Lily, _someone with wings_."

"None of them are in yet."

"Fuck!"

A shadow moved against the light above Natsu. Ikka was lifted away from the Dragon Slayer and he let out a pitiful snarl.

"I'm taking her to Chelia and Wendy," Gray said in a rush, and Natsu stopped trying to grab her arm.

"Run," he muttered. "Run, Gray."

"Someone bring Natsu too!" Gray shouted.

Then Gray's breathing, pulse, smell, footsteps—the collection of senses that made up Gray Fullbuster—faded from Natsu's awareness, along with Ikka, leaving only her blood behind. _No. No, bring me with you._

Someone grabbed his arm. He couldn't see anymore: the world was a blurry brown.

"Can you walk?" they asked as everything tilted around him.

Pulling himself up by whatever warm body was under his arm, he took a quivering half-step. He couldn't speak well enough to answer, but by the gods, he was going to move.

"Dammit, you're heavy," his helper muttered. He knew this voice—Lucy. "You used to tease _me_ …"

Familiar magic lit the inside of his eyelids and seconds later Loke was hefting his other arm. They started walking, Natsu getting his feet to work by sheer will, when he remembered the cause of this disaster.

"Lucy, tell Erza…" His voice hardly worked now, throat bleeding. "Guard workshop. Erza."

The message was relayed and they continued their agonizing journey. When they reached the road, he remembered Romeo, but he was in no state to do anything. Others were there at the guild: if the young man were injured, they'd take care of him. Natsu had to trust Fairy Tail.

Even though Natsu shouldn't have favorites, part of his soul was tied to Ikka, and right now all he could do was head in her direction and try to stay conscious.

* * *

Happy saw the smoke as soon as he left the house. It was reddish purple and hung over the guildhall like some morality-obsessed parent staring disapprovingly over their child's shoulder.

His max speed had him at Fairy Tail in minutes. As he soared up, he saw familiar figures hobbling away from the guild.

"Natsu! Lucy!"

The blonde's head shot up and Loke waved as Happy landed in front of them, but Natsu squinted vaguely through swollen eyes. Blood dripped from wounds all over his chest, arms, and face—even from the corners of his eyes. Happy put his paws over his mouth.

"Natsu…"

"Happy, can you take him—" Lucy began.

"—to Wendy," Happy finished. "Of course."

As Lucy and Loke tried to extricate their arms, Natsu made a horrible rasping sound and spat red on the street. Happy felt like his heart was going to stop. Natsu hadn't looked this bad in years.

"No," the Salamander coughed. "Ikka. Prepare Wendy."

Lucy caught on.

"Ikka is—" she choked and stopped. "Gray's running her to Chelia and Wendy. It's bad. But you know how Wendy is… I think Natsu wants you to warn Chelia people are coming. So Wendy will be ready."

Happy swallowed and looked between the three wizards. Wendy needed careful handling, sure, but Natsu… Carrying an injured Natsu would slow Happy down, but it would get Natsu to the two healers a lot faster than being dragged down the street.

But Natsu finally focused on him, the slits of his eyes pinned on his oldest friend.

"Please, Happy…"

"Aye," the blue cat said solemnly. It should better be the right decision.

The flight to the two women's house took him back across Magnolia into the eastern woods. They weren't deep in the forest—not like Porlyusica had been years ago—but just far enough that you couldn't hear or see the town from the little house. Knocking on the door, Happy wasn't surprised when a pink-haired woman answered.

Chelia looked delighted, opening her mouth to speak, but Happy motioned her outside.

Once the door was closed against Dragon Slayer hearing, he whispered, "People are injured and they're going to need Wendy."

Chelia's smile slid into something between sadness and determination.

"Today's a better day," she whispered. "Not the best, but…I'll see what I can do. Come."

"We have to make it fast," Happy told her.

"There's no hurrying with Wendy."

Inside, the women's home was both comfortable and practical. The various tools of Chelia's trade sat on shelves along one wall beside a raised bed for the injured. The other side of the room had two comfortable chairs squashed together in front of a window, and it was here that Wendy sat.

Hands limp in her lap, she stared up at pieces of blue glass hanging in decoration before the window. Chelia had explained to him the color blue seemed to calm Wendy down, and so there were snippets of it everywhere: a blanket, the lamp, the bottles on Chelia's shelves, the half-full teacup abandoned on the table. Happy was secretly proud of this color choice.

"We have a visitor," Chelia said, gliding over the thick, quiet rugs to stand beside Wendy's chair. "Happy is here."

Wendy looked over slowly and made eye contact with him. That was a good sign.

"Hello."

"Hi, Wendy." The Exceed approached and stared up at the window. "I like your blue glass."

"Chelia broke a bottle," Wendy said, her voice distant and breathy, like wind. "The pieces looked so sad, so I hung them up."

After a moment, she added quietly, "Isn't it pretty?"

"It is." Chelia smiled, her words genuine and not forced.

"I've always liked blue," Happy said.

Wendy turned on him and gave him a brilliant smile.

"You should. Otherwise you can't look in mirrors."

Her tinkling laugh fell over them like a spell.

Had Wendy just told…a joke? Happy giggled, then put his paws over his mouth. Loud noises were forbidden in the Blendy-Marvel house. But Wendy just grinned.

Her laughter was a beautiful sound. Maybe today she was okay.

"Darling," Chelia said, when their chuckles subsided, "Happy wants to know if we can have one or two more people over. Just for a little while. Is that okay?"

Wendy stilled, but her smile remained.

"Who?"

"Ikka and Natsu," Happy said. "And maybe Gray."

"Gray ought to come," Wendy muttered, "or they're all incomplete." Reaching up, she took Chelia's hand. "Alright."

"Really?"

"Really." Wendy beamed. Chelia looked elated at the ease of this agreement.

"They might need a little help," Happy admitted. "They got kinda banged up."

"Oh. That's alright. Chelia can help them. She's _marvelous_. Have you ever gotten to see her work before? She makes everything right and beautiful."

Chelia leaned in and kissed the top of Wendy's head.

Happy prayed to every god he knew that Wendy would be okay by the time the others arrived. Because if Natsu's condition was any indication, Chelia wouldn't be enough. They needed sky magic, and Wendy was the only one who could do it.

* * *

Gray tried to be soft when he knocked, but with Ikka was in his arms barely breathing, self-control was not in his repertoire. He heard a scream when he hit the door with his knee, followed by silence. A minute later, Chelia opened it a crack and her eyes flew wide.

"Oh gods."

"Yes," Gray said desperately. "Please, Chelia. Tell me she can fix this."

"I don't know if she can, but I'll try my hand."

She glanced back in the house before letting him pass. In the corner, the blue-haired woman sat in a blue chair with a matching Exceed perched on the arm, distracted for the moment by conversation. Probably a good thing.

Gray zeroed in on the bed by Chelia's collection of tools and potions. When he lay Ikka down, trying not to jostle her, he started to remove the ice, but Chelia gripped his hand.

"Don't take that off until I can stop the bleeding. Tell me what happened first."

"Oh." Gray put his shaking hands over his eyes. "There was some kind of explosion at the guild. Natsu was there, but I don't think it was fire, or he would've contained it. He's pretty awful, too. Should be on his way."

Chelia nodded, always efficient. "Ikka's wounds?"

"Some kind of burns from…whatever it was. Nothing internal, I'm pretty sure—"

He was stopped by a cool, light touch on his arm.

Wendy.

She looked like a fairy: thin and willowy and not fully there. Staring intently at Ikka, she pressed something into his palm.

"Eat that," Wendy said, squeezing his hand and looking up at him. Her expression was so sad and understanding that Gray didn't realize at first he was crying.

Fuck. His daughter was dying.

He looked at the thing Wendy had given him: a small black square the size of a candy. He sniffed it: it wasn't always good to do what Wendy said, but she seemed lucid this time, so he popped it in his mouth.

The flavor was bitter but not overwhelming. As soon as he swallowed, his shoulders relaxed and breathing evened. Even though fear still charged through every nerve, his thoughts could order themselves into something other than a desperate litany of _no, please, no…_

Moving out of Chelia's way, he slumped in the nearby chair. He had to trust Ikka would be okay. He had to trust they would take care of her. It was out of his expertise now.

He was full of a hundred questions of how and why and, most of all, who. He needed a name so he could go beat his dark anger into someone else.

"I'm ready for you to take the ice off," Chelia said.

Gray stretched out his hand, only to be stopped again by a tapping on the door.

"Chelia," a woman called, trying to be both quiet and urgent. "Please let us in."

Lucy dragged Natsu inside and Gray was suddenly very thankful Wendy had given him that soothing concoction. His husband looked worse than when Gray had seen him fifteen minutes ago: bleeding, swollen, and unable to stand.

"Fuck," he muttered, grabbing the fire mage before Lucy dropped him. It was probably good she didn't bring anyone else into the house, but the celestial mage couldn't hold him much longer. "This one's mine now. Thank you, Lucy."

With the bed already bearing one patient, Gray draped Natsu in the chair. The Dragon Slayer's head tipped back, breath whooshing out of him, but he was still conscious because he suddenly latched onto Gray's wrist.

"Iii?" he muttered.

"She's going to be okay," Gray choked, unable to make the lie believable. "Love, what happened?"

"He can't talk," Lucy panted, still standing by the door. "He was coughing blood on the way here."

"Dammit," Gray whispered. He was barely aware of Lucy collecting Happy and going outside again. _Please, Wendy. We need you._

Chelia was busy with tinctures and utensils and lacrima-powered objects that didn't require a mage to use them. Fairy Tail considered the loss of her magic a huge blow, and she wasn't even a member of the guild.

Wendy's sanity was up there, too.

One healing wizard without her mind, another without her magic.

"Gray, defrost her face and chest," Chelia said. "Let me make sure she's breathing and vitals are okay before we deal with the rest."

Hand out, he drew the magic from around Ikka's body, worry filling his gut. Natsu lurched in the chair and Gray put a hand on his chest to hold him upright.

So much for being calm.

As Chelia probed and the smell of blood filled the air, Gray closed his eyes. He listed everything he'd done and all the things he could or couldn't do, trying to find anything he'd forgotten that might help. There were no other healing wizards even close to Magnolia. Whatever had burned Natsu and Ikka had dissipated immediately, so there was no sample to gather.

Fuck, and all this while there were demons appearing in the north. That catastrophe seemed so distant right now.

"No," Natsu gasped, making Gray jump. Across from them, Chelia swore. Her arms were covered in dark red—gods, there was so much—while she did something with a lacrima.

"Her heart is slowing down," Chelia grunted, while Natsu growled low in his throat. "Too much blood. _Too much fucking blood loss._ "

 _Don't you dare give up,_ Gray wanted to scream. That was his daughter. She was alive. They would not stop until she would stay that way. He wouldn't let them stop. She was blood of his blood, no matter where she came from, and she was not going to die. Gray refused for her to die.

"Stop."

Everyone in the room froze at the icy command. Wendy walked over to Ikka with an authoritative expression.

"My turn, Chelia," she said calmly.

Gray's mouth fell open and he felt Natsu go limp. As light poured from her palms, Wendy stared into the unconscious girl's face.

"You're strong, Ikka." Wendy caressed her cheek. "You don't belong hanging in a window. I am going to put you back together."

* * *

 **A/N:** Finally an update! Everyone wants to know what's up between Erza and Lucy. Next chapter they finally have a confrontation… (Which is proof that, yes, I am working on the next chapter! Hopefully it won't be four weeks this time.)


	5. Ungoodbyes

**A/N:** Thanks to NavyDoc for reminding me to post this! ^^

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Ungoodbyes**

Wendy didn't stop even when Ikka started hacking and tried to rise. Holding the girl down by the shoulders, Chelia murmured comforting words. Wendy's brow wrinkled, focusing on the glow beneath her hands while Ikka's skin knit together and every last burn shrank and vanished.

At last, Wendy stepped back, jerking as if she'd been punched. She stayed stock still in the middle of the floor, eyes wide.

Gray took Wendy's place at Ikka's side, touching her cheek like any pressure might shatter her. Her brown skin was whole and smooth, but the memory of what it looked like before was embedded in his brain.

"How are you?" he whispered.

"Touchan." She leaned her face into his palm. "Tired."

Ikka's clothes were in tatters, so Gray motioned at Chelia. "Do you have a blanket?"

"Of course." As she covered the exhausted girl, the healer teased him, "I guess she didn't get your stripping habit."

"No," Ikka murmured, "but I don't mind that Gray-tou does it."

Chelia smiled. "I see. You have Gray's looks and Natsu's sensibilities."

Fuck, as if Gray weren't already emotional.

"Where is Na-tou?" Ikka's voice edged into panic. "Tou—"

"Right here," Natsu said, surprising them all with the clarity of his voice. "And I'm going to be okay."

As he spoke, Wendy sagged against the chair where he sat. Natsu grabbed her arm to keep her from falling—revealing scabs still stretched over his skin. But none were open sores, and his face was clear of injuries.

"That's all I can do," Wendy whispered breathily. "I'm sorry—"

She slipped sideways. Chelia was already at her side, catching her partner on the way down as if she'd been expecting this.

"Is she…?" Natsu asked in alarm.

"She just fainted," Chelia said, sliding around to cradle Wendy's head in her lap. "It's not from her magic; it's been happening a lot lately."

"What? Why?" Natsu gasped, rising without Gray's help (refusing it, the stubborn bastard, though he let Gray run a hand over his chest) and going over to grab Ikka's other hand.

"I-It's getting worse."

Chelia sagged, looking up at them through wet eyes.

"It used to be as long as people weren't here, she was fine. Every day was a good day as long as it was just us. Now she's getting further inside herself, told me last week that the particles are making her relive everything over and over—and now she's fainting every day."

"Particles?" Ikka asked. Her face was a mask of horror: she knew Wendy—not well, because of Wendy's aversion to people, but she'd still grown up around her—and knew Wendy had an illness of the mind. But not many people knew the sky healer suffered from ongoing magical trauma.

When Chelia sniffled, Natsu broke in.

"Years ago, Wendy fought someone with destruction magic. The mage did some horrific things before Wendy could stop her. When Wendy beat her, instead of let herself be taken captive, she destructed herself and flew in to inhabit Wendy's body. She can't control Wendy, but she can make Wendy remember things and feel things that aren't there. From what I gather, she has made it her mission to make Wendy relive everything violent thing the mage did years ago."

Eyes round, Ikka looked between him and Gray.

"Why doesn't anyone talk about it? Why can't we fix it?"

"We keep it secret," Chelia whispered. "There's no way to get what's left of that mage out of her. All of us," she motioned around, "agreed to hide the truth so nobody hurts Wendy trying to get revenge."

Her hand when she touched Wendy's cheek was so loving, fingers shaking. Moving forward, Gray crouched at her side.

"Should we move her to her bed?" he asked softly.

Chelia nodded.

"May I?" he asked, and the woman nodded again, lips tight.

When he picked Wendy up, it was terrifying how little she weighed. Less than Ikka: wisp of wind itself. After setting the woman down in the small bedroom, Gray turned to Chelia.

"Thank you. So much."

"It was all her." Chelia smiled. Her cheerfulness in the face of everything constantly astounded Gray.

"The best way to show her our gratitude would be to leave before she wakes, isn't it?"

"Yes. Sorry."

"No problem. We'll let ourselves out." Gray glanced out through the open door. "Even though she didn't quite finish, Natsu seems fine. She really did heal almost everything."

"She's amazing."

He couldn't tell if Chelia was saying it to him or herself.

The woman curled up on her own side of the bed, staring at Wendy as if the Dragon Slayer were her entire world. Turning his back, Gray let them be and closed the door.

Still sitting on the healers' table, Ikka had leaned her head on Natsu's chest. They both looked exhausted.

"I'm sorry," Ikka said suddenly. "For not being able to defend myself."

Expression hardening, Natsu crushed her tight against his side.

"I will always protect you," he said, his eyes full of fire. He and Gray looked at each other, both holding in dark fury under the surface. _Our daughter._ "You're never alone, Ikka. That's true of Fairy Tail, and it's true of us."

Gray grinned: it had taken he and Natsu long enough to convince each other of that fact.

Kissing them each in turn, he said, "If you're both able, we need to go reassure the guild and figure out what happened."

* * *

When they, Lucy, and Happy arrived back at Fairy Tail, Gajeel was marching around looking alarmed and angry, complaining loudly about being the only Dragon Slayer left at the guild in a time of crisis.

Striding through the doors, Natsu let his presence exude that we're-okay-Master-is-here effect, halting Gajeel's pacing and stilling nervous mages as he took charge. Gray kept his arm tight around Ikka, who was still wrapped in the blanket.

"Everyone is alive, healed, and healthy," Natsu said, climbing up on top of a table to be heard. "Until we figure out who attacked the guild and why, I want you all to stay close."

Though he was shirtless and banged-up, everyone seemed to sigh in relief at being told what to do.

"So no more jobs for now, and no going anywhere by yourself," he went on. "If anyone can get a hold of our mages who are out on missions, please get them word. I don't want anyone getting hurt away from home."

Climbing down, he turned to Happy and lowered his voice.

"Can you send a message to the twins? This is bigger than us now." Happy flew off and Natsu motioned Gajeel and Romeo to follow him and the others out back.

As they rounded the corner toward the workshop, Gray noted Romeo looked undamaged, just a little windblown. He was glad the younger fire mage hadn't been caught in the blast, but it made him feel hunted, too, like the explosion had sought out his loved ones on purpose.

Oh, gods…

Outside across the blackened ground, Erza stood before the workshop looking absolutely terrifying. She wore Adamantine armor, and while Gray knew it was a purely defensive getup, she looked like she could take an entire dark guild down in one blow. The evil glare helped.

"Nothing more happened," she told Natsu, requipping as they approached. "I also checked inside the workshop, and not a thing has been touched. No more traps."

"I figured."

At the sound of his voice, Erza jerked. "You're talking. Did…did _Wendy_ heal you?"

"Internally, yes," the Dragon Slayer said, while Erza and Gajeel gawped. "She was able to heal Ikka entirely."

"Wendy's okay?" Gajeel asked, not hiding the concern in his voice.

"No," Gray said. "She's getting worse, as a matter of fact."

"She won't be able to come with us," Natsu said, looking between Lucy and Erza. "Which means no Chelia, which means nobody can get severely injured."

"Where are you going?" Ikka asked, standing up taller.

"There's a monster problem in the north. Nobody knows about it yet, and hopefully," Natsu looked at Gray and smiled, "they won't ever have to."

"You're leaving when the guild is under attack?" Gajeel exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure this attack had to do with those monsters," Gray said quietly, and Natsu nodded. They'd been thinking the same thing.

When everyone looked at Gray in confusion, Lucy's eyes lit with understanding. "Ikka's horns have the same properties."

"They're completely heat-resistant," Natsu told the others, "just like the demons Lucy and I saw. And that information does not leave this circle, got it?"

At the word _demon_ , Ikka went stiff. Ice mage though he was, Gray swore he felt cold leeching off her. Dammit. They'd wanted to explain it to her more gently than this. After they got back. When everyone was safe and there was nothing to panic about.

Arm tightening around her shoulders, Gray's mind flitted through a dozen comforting responses, and discarded each of them. None of them were true. Ikka deserved the truth.

"So—" Lucy began, cutting off when the two Dragon Slayers turned around.

A few seconds later, Levy emerged from the guild, a stack of books in her arms.

"They told me you were out here," she said. "I did a quick search for what could've caused the explosion. These are all the books that might have something."

"It was woven into my locking spell," Natsu said. He glanced at Romeo. "Also, I think it was trying to hurt Ikka."

Romeo nodded immediately. "I wasn't even singed, and I was only a step behind."

"The fire was drawn to her face." Natsu swallowed, the tired lines around his eyes dragging down. "When I inhaled it, more just kept coming."

"Erza said it didn't look like fire," Levy said, shifting a different book to the top of the stack.

"She's right: it definitely wasn't just fire," Natsu growled. "I found that out as soon as I breathed in."

"Maybe you were meant to inhale it," Lucy said. "Whoever set that trap had to know you'd sealed the workshop, which means they knew _you_ had to unseal it. They knew you'd protect Ikka if she were attacked and wanted to incapacitate you."

The frown that fell over Natsu's features was nothing to the rage that burst in Gray's chest. _Incapacitate._

"Regardless," Erza interrupted Lucy, "the question remains: who the hell did this?"

Lucy's eyebrows drew down, but neither woman looked at the other.

"Whoever made the demons did," Ikka spoke up softly. "They don't want us knowing how the heat-resistance works."

Gray squeezed her shoulder. Her voice hadn't wavered once.

"Ikka was the target, not Natsu," he said. "We all agree on that. Which means something about those horns and what Ikka can do with them is dangerous. It means…" He looked down at her. "Someone doesn't want you inventing."

Ikka shivered against his side. Everyone looked at her, but her black gaze was fixed on Gray's face. He hated the hints of fear there. Despised it—wished he could take his words back. Except she was a part of this now, for better or worse. The best protection was preparing her.

"Then I need to do my research," Ikka said, taking a deep breath. "I'll start right now."

Gray bit the inside of his lip, affection bubbling in his chest. Lucy and Erza both looked proud.

"I'll stay with Ikka-chan and help with the research," Lucy said. "If that's alright?"

Ikka nodded eagerly.

"I would be better suited to protecting her," Erza said, still not looking at the blonde. "There might be things to learn down in the library."

"I can protect Ikka too," Lucy growled, "not to mention that Ikka can protect herself with skills which, frankly, surpass her fathers when they were her age."

"Natsu, I feel even more inclined to stay behind on this mission," Erza said, turning to him. "You need people to watch the guild."

"That's what Gajeel is for."

The iron mage snorted, but stood up straighter, a delighted smile nudging his lips.

Erza glared at him, then at Natsu. Still very carefully avoiding Lucy.

Gray sensed the argument about to hit. Glancing around, he said, "Romeo, unless you have any more to add about the explosion, you can go. Gajeel, you should probably get settled in."

The two men scooted off, Levy following Romeo and asking him questions about what he saw.

Team Natsu—plus Ikka—stared around at each other.

"Care to have it out?" Gray asked, looking between Lucy and Erza.

"We aren't both required on this," Erza said. "No matter which way you swing it, you have three powerful mages. Gray is the Devil Slayer—he's really the only one of us absolutely necessary."

"We're assuming these demons aren't resistant to cold and can be taken down the same way Ikka's monster was," Natsu said. "If so, Erza, you have armors that will allow you to help Gray. I can't hurt them. I can help contain them, but I can't do it by myself. That's what I need Lucy for; her spirits already proved useful the first time.

"And if these demons are just as ice-resistant as fire-resistant? We'll need to think of a solution fast and enact it even faster. We need everyone. This team used to be strong, not just because it was us, but because we _know each other_. That teamwork allows us to win."

"There isn't teamwork anymore," Lucy said bitterly. "That's why this team doesn't exist anymore."

"That teamwork was shattered," Erza growled. "By force."

"Yeah," Lucy shot back, "it was."

Erza bristled, fists closing. Lucy tensed almost as if she expected the requip mage to spring for her.

"Okay," Natsu said, louder than both of them. "Fight this out and be done already. Vengeance is great, but people's lives—whole towns—are at stake here."

"This can't be solved with fists, Natsu," Erza said, glaring at Lucy. "Trust was broken. There's no putting that back together."

"Funny, coming from you," Lucy replied with an unhumorous laugh. "You were the one who left Jellal without any promise of coming back—left us both, and after breaking his heart. After yelling at both of us."

"I never told him I was done with the relationship," Erza snarled. "I didn't ' _break his heart_.' We had a fight, I stormed out to calm down, and I got swept up in an attack. I came back to find my lover and best friend shagging in my bedroom."

"You were gone for nine months!" Lucy shouted. "We didn't hear a word from you! We didn't know you'd been swept up in anything—nobody knew where you'd gone!"

"And you didn't bother to check when your friend disappeared for so long?"

"You've been gone longer before on missions," Lucy growled. "And without telling anyone. That's just how you are. Considering everything that happened, I think Jellal and I were justified in assuming you'd taken off on us."

Erza snorted. "So you decided to hook up? How charitable of you."

It was Lucy who took the step forward, fists straining at her sides.

"Don't fucking start," Lucy hissed. "With everything you put us both through? We were more than hurt. You'd yelled at him that you were disgusted to be _carrying his child_ , and at me for saying anything at all _after you asked for my advice_. How the fuck do you think he felt? I felt? You're the one who put us through emotional distress and gave us something in common."

"Don't talk to me about emotional distress!" Erza screamed. "I was taken captive!"

"Wait." Natsu grabbed Erza by the shoulders. "You never said anything about captivity."

"Yeah, well." Erza looked to the side, jerking a little in his grip but not really trying to get away. "At first I let them kidnap me. It was a snap decision: I saw a dark guild and thought I'd let them take me back to their hole where I could deal with all of them. I didn't expect them to recognize me."

"We had literally no idea," Lucy murmured, looking sick. "No idea at all."

Natsu interrupted: "Erza, you were pregnant!"

"So everyone knows I guess?" Erza spat, eying Lucy. "Secrets really don't exist."

"I didn't know," Gray interjected. Pregnant, captive, _what?!_

Releasing Erza, Natsu took a step back, a humble look crossing his features as he glanced at Lucy.

"Erza, Lucy told me. In confidence. She was worried you'd take a mission that was too tough all on your own, said you weren't in a good emotional state. I told her I'd check. And that's all anybody said to anybody." The Dragon Slayer heaved an infinite sigh. "To be honest, when I saw you didn't take an official job, I assumed you went off like that time in x795. You just about took my head off when I found you back then and told me never to look for you again if something like that happened. I wanted to respect your wishes."

"We're our own worst enemies sometimes," Erza said with a dark chuckle. "My own words doomed me."

"You should've—no, I _wish_ you'd have told me all this," Natsu said quietly. "When you got back. You could've said."

"I'm sorry, Natsu." And she really did sound sorry.

"Why didn't you?" Lucy asked in a soft whisper. "Erza, why…why didn't you explain?"

"Because I don't have to explain myself to people who stab me in the back," Erza ground out, turning around to face Lucy. They were speaking at normal volume now, but the tension in the air was just as thick. While Lucy looked more sad than angry, Erza still had a hard set to her jaw.

Sizing Erza up, Lucy collected herself behind a stoic façade and said, "Fair enough."

A long silence. Gray was suddenly aware of Ikka huddled against him, silently listening this entire time. _Welcome to adult pain._

"Can I trust you both to come with me and work together on this mission?" Natsu asked, wiping his face as he took in his two teammates. "I need both of you."

The women glanced at each other.

"Sure."

"Just don't expect us to be best friends," Erza grunted stiffly. "This is a rescue, not a reunion."

"Fine." Natsu shoved his hands in his pockets.

Lucy came over and collected Ikka from Gray, hugging the girl close before the two walked wordlessly into the workshop. When Erza headed into the guild, Gray came over and Natsu sagged into his arms.

"I'm so tired," the guildmaster sighed. "I'm so, so tired, Gray."

"I know." Gray hugged him. "Erza was pregnant?"

"Yeah." A heavy breath. "Sorry for not telling you."

"That's okay. But…what happened to the child?"

Shrugging, Natsu put his head down on Gray's shoulder.

"I'm not sure I want to know," he murmured.

* * *

 **A/N:** Reviews are awesome! Lemme know your hypotheses. :}


	6. On the Move

**A/N:** You probably thought I forgot about this fic. But I leave no fic behind! Lol like I said when I started, updates on this one are not prioritized, so it might be a long time between... Yeah, a LONG time. But I've got most of the next 2 chapters written, and the whole thing plotted, so have no fear.

I am throwing every gay couple in and I am not remotely ashamed. They all had to make appearances…and it just happened to occur all in the same chapter. Enjoy this roster of FT Queerness.

* * *

 **Chapter 6: On the Move**

Ikka's experiments continued all that day, and whatever fervor her near-death experience had given her, it worked. Gray was afraid she'd be too worn out, but as he was considering bringing her dinner, she came bounding into the guild with Lucy, the pair looking gleeful.

"I figured out how to mold it!" she told him. "It took a much firmer stance. It's difficult, like it resists me, but I managed to get it down into mobile chunks."

"That's fantastic," Gray stammered in surprise. "And amazing. That was…quite fast, Ikka."

"She's brilliant," Lucy said, grinning.

"Lucy helped," Ikka said. "She found a book on how to create weapons with demon bones, and that gave me the idea."

Demon bones. She said the words so easily.

"So we can bring some of it with us tomorrow," Gray said.

Ikka nodded. "I've already got it in carry-able parcels. And what we can't carry I've blended with the floor. It will not be obvious to anyone that there's horn mineral deposits stored in the workshop unless they are looking _very_ closely and know exactly what they're trying to find."

Gray blinked and looked at Lucy, who was smiling with wide eyes. He was glad he wasn't the only one amazed by her cunning. When he was her age, hiding a deadly weapon in the floor would not have occurred to him.

She did not get her subtlety from him or Natsu, that was certain.

"Well," he scrubbed a hand through his hair, "are either of you hungry?"

"Starving," Ikka grunted.

"Good." He smiled. "Mira cooked your and Natsu's favorite soft foods."

"Soft… Touchan's throat?" Ikka asked.

Gray led the way to the bar, biting his lip.

"He can speak alright, but just in case…"

Ikka didn't argue.

* * *

At the train station the next morning, Natsu kept up a low rumble of complaints that neither Gray nor anybody else paid attention to—Natsu knew as well as the rest of them that they had to go by train and that he'd hate the entire ride no matter what, so there wasn't much to be done. Erza and Lucy stood on opposite sides of the group, not looking at each other.

Gray smacked Natsu on the shoulder when he saw two shorter figures heading toward them.

"What—" Natsu began, then cut off.

They could all see _what._

"Wendy?" Erza asked.

Wendy waved amicably. She and Chelia had bags in their hands.

"We knew you'd need us," Chelia said, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. "So we're coming along."

Silence stretched in the wake of that announcement.

"Glad you could make it," Gray managed.

Chelia grinned and bounced on the balls of her feet—he realized she hadn't traveled in a long time. Wendy was staring around at all the strangers around the platform looking curious. Still calm.

"I'm glad we'll get to catch up." Trust Lucy to get over her shock first. "I never see you two anymore."

"You're always on missions now, aren't you?" Wendy asked. "Since your shoulder."

Lucy blushed. "Yeah."

Huh. Gray didn't realize it had anything to do with losing that part of her. It was true though: Lucy was rarely in Magnolia for more than a few weeks at a time. Natsu had seriously considered adding another room to the house for her since Lucy no longer had her own place in town.

"This looks like our train," Erza said, motioning at the latest pulling up. They began to gather their gear (including five large cases with reshaped beast horn in them) when Natsu and Wendy both looked up sharply—and they all experienced another shock. Four familiar figures disembarked from the train.

"Laxus?" Natsu asked in surprise. "What are you guys doing here?"

Laxus and his team gave them strange looks.

"We live here," Freed said.

"Only about half the year," Natsu chuckled, then gave into aching coughs. Gray rubbed his back until he could speak again.

As the Raijinshuu began saying hello to their guildmates, Laxus looked around at their assembly, frowning.

"What's happening?" he asked.

Natsu made a shushing gesture. "Who said anything's happening?"

Even Gray rolled his eyes. With Natsu's expression looking like _that,_ it was clear something was happening.

"You're leaving the guild," Laxus said obviously, lowering his voice to a murmur, which made Natsu relax, "and you're not leaving Gray, Erza, _or_ Lucy behind in your stead? That has to be an emergency."

"It is. I needed my old team for this. Gajeel's there in my place," Natsu explained. "But I think he'll be more than a little grateful to see you."

Laxus snorted. "So what's happening?"

Natsu glanced around and leaned in.

"Demons up north. It's a long story. Someone attacked the guild yesterday to try and discourage us from looking into it."

"What?" This came from Evergreen, reeling around looking shocked. At Natsu's frantic motions, she whispered, "Someone attacked _our guild?_ Do they know who we are?"

"It's not like nobody attacked us before. Maybe once or twice," Freed said sarcastically, and Evergreen elbowed him. "Ow."

"More importantly," Bickslow interrupted, "who's hurt?"

"Everyone's okay now," Natsu said, while Erza chimed in, "Natsu, of course. And Ikka."

Everyone stared at Ikka, Laxus's team all looking appalled.

"I'm okay," she mumbled, flushing.

"Someone attacked a _child?_ " Laxus growled. "Can I come with you?"

"Love," Freed grabbed Laxus's arm, "Master is right—it's good if we stay here. If someone tries to hurt Fairy Tail again…"

Laxus settled back on his heels with a grunt. "Fine. You're right."

"Thank you," Natsu said, relieved.

"We need to go," Gray noted, nodding at their train. "Not to cut things short."

"We'll keep the guild safe," Bickslow promised, tongue hanging out in a lop-sided grin. Beside him, Freed nodded seriously, which was more reassuring.

"If anything happens," Natsu called after them as Gray tugged on his hand, "Gajeel knows how to contact us."

"I don't think it'll come to that," Laxus called back, a spark in his eye. Oh dear.

As they boarded, Natsu dragging his feet, he told Gray, "I really am relieved they'll be there. Guess we're starting out with good luck."

"I hope it sticks," Gray muttered. "You don't think anyone would attack the guild now, do you?"

"With us, Ikka, and the horns gone, I hope not. I really, really hope not… Because they'd end up maimed, and that would be so much paperwork. I've had to appease the Council over Laxus's destructiveness twice before and it was not fun. Sometimes I think it's Jiichan's way of getting back at me from the grave."

Gray snickered.

"I hope they'll be okay," Natsu finished.

Gray put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be fine, Natsu."

Natsu smiled wearily. "Yeah, I know."

* * *

While Natsu kept his face near the open window through the ride, Gray rubbed his back. Across from them, Wendy had her face buried in Chelia's hair and was groaning from time to time.

Gray's other hand rested between himself and Ikka. She looked so solemn: he wanted to reach over and squeeze her fingers, but she had reached that age where sometimes affection was welcome and sometimes it most certainly was not. He hadn't figured out how to read this new her yet.

Leaning forward slightly, Lucy asked the girl, "What do you plan on doing with the horn mineral when we get there?"

To Gray's surprise, Ikka replied immediately.

"I want to do some experiments to see if the monsters react to the mineral, if its durability is better or worse than theirs, and if I can find easier ways of molding it," she rattled off.

"Lots of science," Lucy said.

"Yeah. I don't have enough data right now…"

Gray smiled and stared out the window, letting the technical conversation that followed wash over him. It was clear Lucy still read way too many books. It was good for Ikka to be around her, since Ikka did too, while he and Natsu…did not. Not that they didn't stay up to date on magical theory, but Ikka had subscriptions to three alchemical publications and read every page. And she was, as he continuously reminded himself, only thirteen. She'd only get smarter...

"Now that we're not in public," Chelia said after a while, "Wendy and I have a confession."

Everyone looked around; Natsu pulled his head back inside the train, hand over his mouth. Wendy was still leaning on Chelia, but she gave her partner's hand an encouraging squeeze, and Chelia continued for them.

"Carla visited us last night. She had a vision."

"Whoa, wait," Erza interrupted, eyes wide. "I thought she didn't get those anymore?"

"They're rare, but not gone," Wendy mumbled.

Chelia nodded. "She told us she saw demons, and Natsu's team working together again, and lots and _lots_ of fire. I'm hoping it's Natsu's fire and not…" Chelia shook her head. "She said an unexpected friend helps out, but unless the two of us are there, people die. And she said Wendy and I find something we're looking for."

After a moment of silence, Lucy asked, "What are you—?"

"We don't know either," Chelia said. "But we're eager to find out. And more eager to keep anyone from dying."

Ikka shivered suddenly. Before Gray could react, Lucy put an arm around her.

"Cold?" Lucy asked.

Pale, Ikka nodded, and the adults pretended she wasn't lying. Probably, Gray reflected, because they felt the same, they just no longer knew how to express it.

Gray still hadn't decided whether he was proud or terrified that Ikka was a part of their team now. Maybe it was possible to feel both.

* * *

The train pulled in at their first stop and Gray poked Natsu until he came out of his stupor.

"We've stopped moving," he said.

"We have?" Natsu perked up. "Thank _gods._ " Shoving open the window, he dove out onto the platform. Ikka and Gray looked at each other and laughed.

The trek to the Magic Counsel headquarters felt longer than it was: up a broad avenue whose shops and facades were built to look prestigious. As they neared the main building, two figures stood out waiting on the steps, and Natsu burst into a broad smile.

He was the first to wrap Sting in a hug, embracing Rogue next even though the latter tried to fade into the background.

"Thank you," Natsu said.

"Of course we came." Sting's grin fell into seriousness. "Is Fairy Tail okay?"

"Yeah." Natsu glanced back at Ikka. "We're all fine. Thanks to Wendy."

It was then Sting seemed to notice the smaller dragon, who was reaching out cautiously to squeeze Rogue's hand. (Rogue seemed far more comfortable with this level of touch, and the two shared a silent smile.)

"Wendy?" Eyes wide, Sting held out his arms. "Gods. It's been ages."

"Hello, Oniichan."

She let him reel her in and they embraced for a long time. For all her shrunkenness, Wendy still looked far younger than the other Slayers: maybe it was her magic, or the simple and quiet life she'd been forced to lead, or maybe it was because all the other Slayers had been filling their lives with _too much._ Sting certainly looked it, more lined than last time they saw each other, and Rogue had a silver braid falling over his shoulder.

"Come on," Rogue said, breaking up the reunion with a solemn nod toward the building. "I hope you don't mind, Natsu-san: we passed on some of your news to someone in particular."

They walked into the entrance hall and two more men immediately hailed them.

Doranbolt looked happy and even relieved to see them, his guildmark showing proudly where his Council robes left his shoulder bare.

Gray didn't look at the man's partner for too long: the long, jagged scars stretching over Lahar's skin looked as if he'd been pieced back together from chunks—and Gray didn't want to consider how true that might be. He had no idea how they'd reanimated Lahar, nor did he want to; he was just glad Doranbolt was happy and left it at that.

While trying to avoid staring at Lahar's face, he noted Ikka doing the exact opposite: she seemed to be studying the man, her expression open and curious. Her inner scientist never shut down.

As they began to follow Doranbolt, Lahar said, "Wait. Children can't—"

Natsu took a step forward and raised an eyebrow.

Doranbolt wore a whimsical smile as his spouse coughed.

"Um, this way," Lahar said.

* * *

Lahar and Doranbolt agreed—with a little persuading—to keep the truth of the demons suppressed and begin evacuations under the guise of thinning ethernanos in the area instead. Everyone knew industry shut down without lacrima power, so people would evacuate quickly, but it also wasn't the type of life-threatening issue which would cause panic.

"No remaining towns lie within fifty kilometers of the woods," Lucy had argued. "Right now, evacuation is just a precaution, not a necessity."

"Fairy Tail will handle it," Rogue said, and the Council agents could say no more.

Sting and Rogue would be watching the perimeter of the evacuated zone. They were not happy about this, but this was their territory, their guild on the edge of the zone, and Natsu pointed out Sting should be there to protect his guildlings just in case Fairy Tail didn't confine the demons. Sting still called this "being reduced to backup," but he'd looked at the scabs on Natsu's arms, stared at Ikka's pink-peeling face, and agreed.

"If your guild is attacked again," Rogue began, "we can…"

"It won't be," Erza said. "It's us who will be the targets of whoever is responsible for all of this."

Gray glared her into silence.

"Our other two Dragon Slayers are there," Natsu said, with a confidence that Gray was starting to believe in.

"They're a handful and a half," Chelia chuckled.

"Exactly. It's going to be okay."

Now they were back on the train, speeding toward their final destination. Gray discovered he wasn't worried; he looked suspiciously at his partner, who was heaving out the window. This was why Natsu was guildmaster: he calmed everyone down.

In the middle of the afternoon, Gray and Ikka went to hunt down food. When she held his arm to counteract the sway of the train, it made it easier for him to grip her hand and ask, "How are you feeling?"

Her silence lasted so long he looked back at her: she was frowning.

"Curious," she said. "I have a lot of questions."

"It's alright if you're nervous."

She shrugged. "They're not real demons, right? Zeref is dead. It's not real."

Gray bit his lip. If only.

"Zeref didn't create the idea of demons on his own. He just made the ones that are most famous."

His tone seemed to catch her, wavering in uncertainty. Then he felt guilty: he never knew the best way to help.

He stopped walking suddenly.

"Ikka, you know about Natsu-tou's...life story. Demons don't have to be scary."

Nodding, Ikka broke into a smile. "You've got him: that's why you're not scared."

Gray shook his head, grinning. Too true.

"I've told you how he saved my life on Galuna—"

"Gods, I've heard that story a hundred times! Tell the one where you guys tried to kill each other but then didn't. I like that one."

Gray shivered. "I don't."

"Maybe you should talk about it, then," she said. "Admitting stuff makes it easier to face."

"When did you get so smart?"

"When my Ice-Maker father taught me everything he knows," she quipped back, smiling at him.

* * *

 **A/N:** Coming up next: Erza tells the rest of her story, and while Gray and Natsu are distracted, Ikka runs off to do some experiments...and comes face-to-face with one of the demons.


	7. Divided

**Trigger warning:** for difficult pregnancies and things related.

General warning: this chapter is fucking intense.

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Divided**

Their final stop let them off in a tiny village on the edge of the evacuation zone. Lahar himself rode with them to begin the evacuations immediately; he looked slightly appalled when the Dragon Slayers flopped onto the platform and promptly threw up in concerto.

Sting and Rogue landed long enough to say goodbye—they'd avoided the train thanks to Lector and Frosch—and Happy came running up to hug Natsu, and then Ikka, around the waist.

"You're still okay," the cat said, thick emotion in his voice. "They let me rest at Sabertooth. I would've come back, but—"

"It was a long way," Natsu said. "Are your wings okay?"

"I slept most of the day," Happy admitted, though hearing this didn't surprise Gray, since Happy hadn't slept much since Carla laid her egg. "I walked here; it's just the next town over."

"Thank you for being our messenger, Happy. Sometimes you're the only one I trust to deliver news."

Happy beamed, then went over to Ikka.

"So this is where everything starts?" Happy asked, moving over to put his paw protectively on Ikka's leg.

She nodded at him.

"Are you scared, or excited?" he asked.

"Both?" she said. Happy patted her shin, smiling.

* * *

A kilometer out from the demons' forest, they found a protected dell and began to set up camp.

Ikka's first preoccupation was getting her chunks of horn settled.

"I've had an idea for gathering more information," she said, spreading her feet as Lucy and Gray looked on.

Pausing, she molded some of the mineral into the shape of four-legged creature, which began to prance around, freezing solid when she stopped focusing on it and spoke again.

"Here's my thought. I've never seen a mineral like this before. It may have magical properties—I didn't have time to find out. But regardless, it's possible the…monsters, or whatever they are, will be drawn to it."

"Shit," Gray exclaimed. "I didn't think of that."

"I don't think they'd be drawn over any great distance," Ikka said hurriedly. "Natsu-tou already told me it doesn't have much of a smell, and its magnetic resonance is almost nil. Anyway, if they're drawn when it's nearby, then I can construct traps."

"The horn will be both bait and hook," Lucy nodded. "Nice thinking."

"I just need to test it out."

"No," Natsu interrupted, pulling his head out of the bag he'd been rooting through. "Absolutely not."

"Why not? We have to see what those creatures are made of. For all I know, my horn will shatter on contact. I need to know."

"We'll figure out how to find that information," Natsu said. "But we're not running off monster-hunting the minute we get here without doing any reconnaissance or coming up with any backup plans. _You_ are not going monster-hunting."

Ikka crossed her arms and glared. Natsu glared back.

"There are safe ways to do research," Lucy said, putting out her hands.

"Some things involve risk," Erza interrupted. "Get over it, Natsu. Your daughter is strong."

"I'm not 'getting over it' when it's my own daughter," Natsu growled.

"Whatever." Erza turned away. "I'll fetch some water."

They got lucky with food and Natsu caught some doe-eyed creature with ease near the camp. Lucy and Happy insisted he not be the one to cook it, and to people's continuing surprise, Wendy took over the task.

She was acting more present than she had in years: no moments of fear, no sudden panicking, no freezing when a memory took her. It helped Gray remember the days before, when she was always cheerful, smart, and quietly competent.

She was one of them again.

It had been ages since their team had gone out together. Gray couldn't actually remember the last time he worked with Erza, and with Wendy it had been over a decade.

For that matter, he and Natsu hadn't been out on a job together in forever either. It was kind of exhilarating. As Natsu helped set up camp, Gray watched him, appreciating his efficiency, his practical jokes, the expanse of muscle when he stretched—he'd kept his physique through continual training and Gray loved it. Gray loved him.

And he loved having the whole team again, too.

What could've been a barbed or awkward day shoved into close proximity again turned out smooth, because everyone was excited to be together. Smooth…except for Lucy and Erza.

It took Gray a bit to notice. Lucy seemed a little more wilted than she had on the train, and Erza pricklier. Then he overheard a snide comment, said quietly but within Lucy's hearing.

Lucy turned her back on Erza, but her posture wasn't confident or easy. She looked defeated.

"What idiot messed up setting up a tent?" Erza asked of no one in particular. "Everyone knows the corner stakes have to go in first."

"There's no right way to do it," Gray said.

Erza didn't respond.

Lucy walked away to help Chelia by the fire.

"Abandoning her friends again," Erza muttered to Gray. "It's all she's good at."

His head shot up, mouth opening to tell her off.

Lucy whirled, and at first Gray thought she was crying, but the red around her eyes was angry.

"Do you have something to say to me?" Lucy asked.

"Against my ex who had a fucking affair with my partner? No, not really."

"Why don't you say what's really bothering you?"

"I have nothing to say to you; just to whoever decided to bring you along," Erza snapped. "You proved you can't be trusted—you don't care about anyone but yourself."

"But myself? Really? The only part of that which hurts is seeing how far you've fallen from who you were," Lucy said. "Before you throw accusations around, maybe you should do a bit of background research on your subjects. You know, find out what we've been up to the past few years. While you're at it, you should ask Jellal what he did the eight fucking months you were gone."

"Whatever you've been up to doesn't make it up to me," Erza hissed.

"Fine." Lucy's lips twisted—like she wanted to shout, or sneer, or kiss. "But when you say shit like that, you're showing the world your own self-absorption."

"What the hell?"

"Open your fucking eyes, Erza. There are other people here besides you."

"Shit, so you're going to yell at me now? I guess I'm just here to take your hits?"

"You want to talk about yelling?" Now Lucy did look on the point of crying. "You came to me in tears about being pregnant when you absolutely didn't want to be, told me you were terrified, and I held you, and listened, and gave you a number of logical solutions, including aborting or giving the baby up for adoption. Do you even remember any of that?

"After all that, you _screamed_ at me. Almost punched me. Then you ran off in a rage. Jellal told me that you and he basically had the same conversation—and you screamed at him, too. He and I were both fucking broken over it. And lonely. We _missed you_. And then you were gone, poof, so we went looking, and looking, and looking, even knowing it might make you angry. We thought you were pissed at us for some reason, and we wanted to apologize, help how we could.

"Except in all that looking, neither of us ever found you. We commiseratd. When it seemed like you'd just left us there, yeah, we went looking for consolation with the person who best understood what we were each going through.

"It took us eight months to get to that point, for the fucking record. After we gave up searching, we'd meet up to talk about you; took solo jobs to lick our wounds; came back home to your absence; took care of each other." Erza flinched at the word 'care.' "Do you really want to know? We fucked _once._ The time you came home and caught us. That. Was. It."

When Lucy broke off panting, Erza looked ready to sever heads from bodies. She spat on the ground, beyond words.

"You know the worst part?" Lucy added bitterly. "After all that, you went against what you'd shrieked to each of us. You came back to him _not_ disgusted, and I can only assume you aborted since—"

"I carried her to term. And then she _died_."

Erza's voice was low, but she might as well have screamed.

There was a moment of shocked silence. Tears were streaming down Erza's face, and Gray couldn't tell whether she was furious or anguished.

"I told you: I let myself get captured," she went on in a lower voice. "Then they found out who I was and before I could do anything, I was knocked out and captured for real. The conditions were fucking awful. I spent months starving in a little cell, pregnant, seeking a way to take down their guild.

"And eventually, I did. After I beat up every bastard who ever bruised me, I went to a hospital. They told me the child and I were going to be fine. I realized I was relieved: she and I spent months being tortured together, and she was the only person I had to cling to. I actually wanted her. Two weeks later I had her and despite everything, despite all their magic and tests and what the fuck else, she was already dead when her face saw the light. She was _born_ dead."

Erza broke off looking devastated. Silent tears streaked down, her eyes fixed on the horizon.

"Erza." Gray's heart was breaking, and he couldn't stop crying. "Erza, come here."

When she didn't move, he walked over and wrapped her in a hug, awkward and pointy due to her armor and the fact that Gray wasn't used to hugging other people. But she leaned on him like it was the only thing keeping her up, while Gray rubbed her back like he used to for Ikka.

Lucy was pale, her expression unreadable. Natsu looked too shocked to fully take in what had happened. Shocked and exhausted. In the peripheral, Gray saw furtive movement as Chelia drew Wendy away; gods, he prayed overhearing the story didn't trigger her.

"Why d-didn't you say anything?" Natsu asked after a few minutes. "Why didn't you let us help you?"

"I came back looking for Jellal," Erza sniffed, voice muffled against Gray's shoulder. "To tell him what had happened—to tell him before anyone else. She was his too. She had his hair and he'd wanted her and she would've been his daughter… So I went home. And I walked in and—"

She motioned at Lucy, fresh tears falling.

"The funny thing is," Erza stuttered darkly, "I was beginning to think I wanted another one. That I could actually do this—love this. Being a mother. Never even got the fucking chance. Just like my own mother."

"So Jellal—" Lucy clapped her hands over her mouth. "He...doesn't know what happened to the baby?"

"Nobody fucking knows." Erza hiccoughed. "Except you guys."

Lucy stood there gaping for a second longer, then a sob wracked through her. Turning, she took off into the trees at a run.

"Lucy—!" Happy began, but Natsu snatched the cat out of the air.

"No. Let her go."

"She has to mourn her boyfriend's ignorance," Erza muttered.

"Erza…" Gray didn't want to say it: there were way more important things to say. But Erza couldn't let Lucy's betrayal go, so Gray couldn't let it go either. "Lucy isn't seeing him. I'm not sure they've even talked since you came back."

"Oh, I'm well aware." Erza straightened and wiped her face. "I'm aware they just had a _fling_."

"You still feel hurt? After all this time?"

"Gray, they were the only two people I've ever had romantic feelings for," Erza said quietly. "I struggle with…trusting, and I'm rarely attracted to anyone. Just them. They both knew that. Lucy and I broke up all those years ago because you can't date on the team without it affecting you. We made friendship work, but I always cared about her and she was well-aware of the fact. Jellal's the first and only other love I've had. So the two of them together? Yeah, I'm still hurt."

"Alright," Gray said. He kicked at the dirt. "Th-the girl—your daughter."

With a heavy sigh, Erza dropped to the ground, motioning Gray down beside her. Natsu hovered nearby, indecisive, listening but not really part of the conversation. Erza seemed to want to talk just with one person.

"She was beautiful, Gray. Wispy blue hair. Tiny face. She even had a stork bite above her right eye that made me think of him. She was precious—would've been…"

Sniffing, Erza broke off, pressing her hands to her eyes. Gray wasn't sure if she needed another hug, but she kept talking, voice thick and carefully even.

"I know she was alive. I felt her; I used to talk with her, tell her about my life, things like our growing up, how I always punched you and Natsu when you got too violent in your flirting, about all the dumb shit we Fairy Tail kids got up to. I'd tell her stories, and tell her how the world would be like when we got out of that little cage together. She kept me going. I had to stay sane for her; I couldn't give in to anger or bitterness or hatred. I had to keep going.

"I know she was alive. She died late in the pregnancy. It killed her, being in that place with me—" Erza shuddered, voice going high. "My body killed her. To spare my own life. _I killed her._ If I weren't…but I did."

"No—" Gray broke in.

Erza rode right over him. "With all my talk of not wanting to have children, the universe really played a pretty good prank on me, didn't it?" She let out a hysterical laugh, jolting, like weeping. "Got me to want a child after all, only to take her away from me. I got the message. The Goddess always feels it necessary to teach me stuff by the hardest possible method."

Biting out the last word, Erza pulled her hands from her face to show a bitterness so intense Gray couldn't say anything. Nothing was enough. He'd never seen her like this, carrying the weight of a life, letting it drag her down and beat her up over and over. There was no way to un-convince a parent they'd killed their own child.

"I'm so sorry," he managed eventually, trying so desperately not to cry again. All he could think of was Ikka, and all the hatred he would heap on himself if he ever let anything happen to her. How badly he would injure himself if he let her get hurt. If he somehow killed her.

Oh gods, fuck, he couldn't survive that thought.

"I'll always be sad, mourn her, wish for what could've been," Erza said softly, face creasing with sorrow. "But I finished grieving her a long time ago. I'm not cut out to have children. I've accustomed myself to that fact. Within a few years it'll be too late, anyway. I'm old."

"You can adopt," he said instantly.

"Gray…" She gave him a crooked smile. "I'm not like you and Natsu: I don't have a stable life. I wouldn't make a good parent—I'm always going places and fighting people. I don't think I'll ever stop. I'm addicted to the violence. It's better I just stay by myself: I can't hurt anyone this way."

"Natsu and I aren't exactly stable," Gray pointed out.

"You know what I mean."

"…Yeah."

He smiled at her, painful and wry, and she returned it.

"Can I say one more thing?" he asked, not wanting to make her break down again.

"Sure."

"I'm sorry we weren't there for you when it was all happening. I know it's useless to wish we knew where you were and got you out of there. But I still wish we could've been there for you. Afterward, if nothing else."

"I wish I talked to you guys when I came back. I've regretted that for years."

"You could've told us at any time," he said, smiling to soften the comment.

"I didn't know how to tell you. When's the right time to say something like that? _By the way, I was tortured and it killed my baby_. I'm no good at talking about that stuff, Gray. You're not either."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I know."

"We hate inconveniencing people with our feelings."

"Basically."

"So you understand why I want to be alone? I don't want a relationship; I don't want kids. I want the family I have here—Ikka, and you two, and Wendy and Chelia. I don't want to be responsible for another's life. I can't be the reason anyone else gets hurt."

Gray nodded. "I understand."

He understood exactly, even though for him it was the opposite. Ikka lost her family because he didn't kill that demon fast enough: so he wanted to protect her, love her, teach her to fight. To be her family. That put him in a place where he could potentially fail her again, but it also meant he could take care of her.

Unlike Erza, he still believed he had the power to do that for his daughter.

Erza got up, dusted herself off, and announced she would hunt another something down for dinner. Gray remained where he was, watching with only half a mind as Natsu and Happy began arguing about making a fire—Natsu wanted to make it the old-fashioned way so he could eat it later, while Happy kept reminding him he was no good at building fires.

Still thinking, Gray was too distracted to notice Natsu approaching until the dragon stopped right in front of him.

"Gray, where's Ikka?"

He blinked up at his husband.

"I haven't, um…"

His eyes flew wide. They shared a look of horrible knowing. The little scientist had taken off to do her experiments.

If she got hurt… Gray could never forgive himself for that sin.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm off for a holiday and thus won't have time to write, edit, or post. So I'm spamming you with updates in the meantime.


	8. The Runaway

**A/N:** Hey all, **I'm changing my pseuds** from _SnowfallBreeze_ and _elmandfir_ to **friendlyneighborhoodfairy.** Since I'm apparently hard to find, I wanted to unify the name across all platforms.

* * *

 **Chapter 8: The Runaway**

Ikka hurried through the woods, a chunk of horn in her hands. She'd passed beyond the range of Natsu-tou's hearing, finally going from tiptoes to a solid run. Had to find the creatures and find out about her idea.

She passed a nest of squirrels, tails undulating as they chattered angrily. Ordinarily she might sit down and try to get them to relax for observation, maybe even come to her—but she had a limited time before her fathers realized she was gone and came after her.

Sure, this was dangerous, but that was science. You didn't get results from sitting around.

And this was what Fairy Tail wizards did.

The sound of something lumbering through the brush made Ikka freeze, panting hard. She couldn't leave herself time to get freaked out about this. With lives at stake, she couldn't afford to be scared. To remember the past. Had to focus on the mineral in her hands.

Setting it down, she put her hands together and molded a waist-high figure out of the black rock. Thin and spiky, the womanish doll took a creaky step. Ikka readjusted her stance. Here came the part that really required control. Creating things which moved on their own was some of the hardest maker magic.

As Ikka focused, the little woman began to walk, slipping between the underbrush in the direction of loud, snuffling noises. When it slipped out of sight, Ikka crept after it, needing to see how her experiment turned out.

Which meant she had to see the demon.

The creature was in a clearing made by its own thrashing, its beautiful skin smooth and jet-black, with cracks along its spine where the red light of fire peeked through. Ikka shuddered. Her stomach convulsed. She didn't look at it more than that, kept her eyes on the tiny rock-woman now standing in the clearing.

The creature, which hadn't reacted to her presence until now, suddenly sniffed and made a beeline for the figure.

She knew it. The same organic matter called to itself.

Inspecting the figurine, it took the beast a long time to decide it was not alive, and therefore boring. As soon as it turned away, Ikka enacted part two of her experiment.

Ikka put her fists together.

The woman's spiky limb stabbed into the creature's heel—except it didn't puncture, didn't do anything but glance off the hard surface of the skin. There was no sound, no shattering on either's part, and the demon seemed hardly to feel it, for it scraped at its heel and lumbered on.

Well. That put her back to square one in terms of taking the things down. But at least she knew she could lure them.

Experiments complete, Ikka could pay attention to her body now. Her heart was speeding up in response to increased breath, her limbs twitching with adrenaline. This was fear, she told herself. She was familiar with fear.

 _Think of the squirrels. Their bushy tails. It would be wonderful to pet one._

She could do this.

The demon's back was to her, heading off in the opposite direction. It hadn't seen her, hadn't sensed her—suddenly she realized just how close she'd been. She'd crouched less than fifty yards from a demon and lived to tell about it. Now it was going away, and she would be alright.

Just as the demon was disappearing onto the other side of the clearing, Natsu-tou crashed through the underbrush and scooped her into a full-on dragon's hug. Steel bands squeezed her, his chest rising and falling rapidly, and from where she was pressed against him, she could hear his pulse.

This was fear.

"Ikka," he muttered, breathless, "oh my god."

She was about to tell him what she'd learned—but a deep growl tore every logical thought from her head.

The demon was back.

Looking their direction, searching, it had its nose up and terrible maw gaping as it breathed in their scents.

"Oh," Ikka whimpered.

Her legs gave out. Natsu-tou tightened his grip.

The smooth, black skin was like rock, very different from the pale, leathery creature that had attacked her childhood home, but it had other similarities. The empty eyes and broad, branching horns. The humanlike anatomy but tendency to walk on four limbs.

Sound was coming at her through a funnel, distant and narrow. When her father said, "Ikka," her throat eked out a tiny, scared sound.

The creature was looking, had almost located them. Its eyes were piercing the thick leaves, trying to find them—

Another crash and Gray-tou hurtled through the trees, yelling something as he passed them, heading toward the demon.

 _No!_ she tried to shout.

He didn't hear her, didn't stop. The funnel was blocking all noise, and she couldn't see except what was right in front of her—

Gray-tou took a familiar stance and the clearing was suddenly very cold.

While Natsu-tou warmed up and kept her from shivering, Gray-tou did a few swift things with his magic. There was a roar, cut off—by a faceful of ice, if she interpreted the blurry gleam correctly. The world was too fuzzy for her to tell much.

Leaning her head on Natsu-tou's shoulder, she waited for the faintness to leave her, the pinpricks to fade from her skin, and the pounding in her head to go down. She was safe, she told herself. Safe, safe, safe…

One day she would learn to believe it.

* * *

Lucy was doing rounds. When they discovered Ikka missing, Natsu had taken off on her scent with hell in his expression, and Gray took right off after him without any organization. Not that she blamed them, but the rest of them had hurriedly agreed on a plan to scout the rest of the area. Erza had actually been cooperative—or, not as hindering as usual. Erza went west, Lucy south, and they trusted the boys (Erza still called them that) to handle whatever lay east. Chelia and Wendy would search the area around the camp and defend it.

Loke was scouting some way ahead of her, having insisted—all her spirits had gotten more protective since she lost her shoulder. She'd been protecting Virgo when it happened, and all of them felt this somehow meant they'd failed her. Whatever: the armored contraption that held her arm on worked well enough. They needed to stop being paranoid.

With only the slightest rustle, Loke suddenly appeared beside her.

"Up ahead," he whispered, finger to his lips.

 _How many?_ she mouthed.

He shrugged. "Just heard. Didn't get closer."

Nodding, she let him lead the way forward, the two of them crouching as they moved through the underbrush. As they came out on a small knoll, the trees parted somewhat and gave them a view of a much higher hill—and on it, definite dark shapes moving. Big ones.

Still, Lucy went immediately on alert: those were too far away for them to hear, and the forest around them was silent. What Loke had heard…

Another rustle behind them made them stare at each other. That was the sound of something small. Not demon-sized. It sounded like something climbing a tree.

Or someone. Nobody had said it, but Lucy knew there was a _someone_ in this equation. It wasn't a demon, after all, who tampered with Natsu's seal and blew up the laboratory.

Fanning out together, they rounded opposite sides of a large bush. At another whispering swish, Lucy drew her whip and leapt out.

A man was slipping out of the tree, dropping to the ground, almost silent except for the occasional rustling branch.

Lucy cracked her whip and the man turned, raising his arm, as if that would help. But her whip didn't stick, rebounding as his hand glowed with magic, and already Lucy was rolling to the side, popping up next to Loke, who emerged with gold-lit fists—

"Stop!" the man yelled, pulling off his hood.

Lucy stopped cold.

" _Jellal?"_

Jellal Fernandez gaped at her, panting slightly, looking utterly stunned.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'd ask you the same," he said, "but I imagine it's probably the same thing I'm doing."

He nodded his head in the direction of the demon-covered mountain.

"Yes." She crossed her arms. "Who sent you?"

"I got a strange report," he said, brow drawing down. "No job at the guild appeared—I don't think word's gotten out. I came by myself to see, and found this."

"Yeah, Natsu and I found this a week ago. So you don't know…?"

Lucy's words failed. She wasn't sure how she wanted to finish: _…about Fairy Tail being attacked? …that Erza is here?_

And then she remembered that he didn't know about the baby, about what happened to Erza, about anything. Retreating, she backed into Loke's chest and took a shaky breath.

"You can't be here," she said.

Jellal crossed his arms. "Why not?"

"I'm here with my team. My whole team."

It took him a moment to catch on.

"Oh."

* * *

When Lucy got back to camp, Natsu and Gray hadn't returned, but Wendy reported hearing a roar and a fight, and said it seemed Gray had won. Erza was already back, she and Chelia completing the cooking. The four women ranged around the fire, and Lucy went straight to honesty.

"We're not the only ones here."

All eyes whipped up.

"What?" Erza gasped.

"Loke and I met someone from another guild checking it out—said he'd heard strange reports, but he didn't know what he was looking into. And," she said, inhaling past the sickly flutter in her stomach, "we know him—"

Natsu and Gray crashed into the clearing, both looking varying states of frustrated and concerned. Gray had Ikka in his arms, her expression pale but otherwise unhurt. Gray put her down by the fire and she crouched there on wobbly legs.

"Found one demon," Gray said cursorily. "Managed to kill it."

"Are you okay?" Chelia asked them, hurrying over to take Ikka's hand.

Ikka nodded, and Natsu said, "Nobody's scratched."

Then he looked sharply at Lucy and sniffed.

"The fuck? Wh—?"

"Loke and I ran into someone while scouting," she said, cutting him off. "Found the demons, too, but don't worry: none are close. They don't seem to have spread out much from where we first saw them. And I ran into…Jellal. He came to look into strange stories he heard."

"Oh," Gray said, blinking at her.

"I haven't seen him in ages," Chelia said smoothly. "Is anyone else from Crime Sorciere here?"

"No."

"Where is he?" Natsu asked.

Lucy shrugged, eager to show her ignorance. She hadn't looked in Erza's direction once. "Said he was doing more observing. He's got a camp of his own somewhere, I expect. I didn't ask."

"Damn." Gray still looked surprised.

At last, the dreaded silence fell, and Lucy could think of nothing to break it. Chelia spoke up cheerfully from beside Erza: "Food is ready."

"Ikka," Erza said, expressionless, "why don't you tell us what you found?"

* * *

Natsu-tou and Gray-tou were arguing next to the campfire. Loudly.

"You've got this in the bag," Natsu said. "You killed that thing in under five minutes. As long as we can get them alone, you can deal with them one at a time and we'll be done here."

"I'm telling you, that was luck," Gray growled. "If it hadn't been hampered by that piece of Ikka's horn, it wouldn't have held still long enough for me to stab it."

"But your ice got through. They're not impenetrable."

"It took an awful lot of force, Natsu. And those things move fast."

"So what are you saying?" Natsu retorted. His arm tightened around Ikka where she was sitting beside him. "That we can't do this? C'mon, popsicle."

"No, I'm just saying it won't be that easy! We've got to have a plan. Luck won't ensure we deal with the rest without people getting injured. Especially," Gray grit his teeth, "if you're going to keep drawing their attention like that."

"For the last time, I did not draw its attention!"

"You could've gotten Ikka hurt," Gray-tou hissed. "You were hollering like a wailing spirit. It's a miracle you didn't draw the rest of the herd."

"Actually," Lucy broke in, "Loke and I saw them gathered on top of that central hill. The one you guys encountered was a stray. You really did get lucky."

"Gray, I will never, _ever_ let anyone in this guild get hurt," Natsu-tou said. "Especially Ikka."

Ikka was only a little surprised when Gray-tou suddenly folded over and curled into Natsu-tou's other side; the Salamander shifted to accommodate his other beloved in his embrace. Often when they argued, Gray ended up imploding from the stress and then surrendering with a wordless plea for affirmation. Although he hid it well, he was scared a lot. _Like me._ Natsu-tou always stood his ground right up until Gray broke, and then he was all softness and apology.

"You're high-strung," Natsu whispered.

"Yeah." Gray gave an enormous sigh, flopping backward onto the turf. "I don't know why."

"It's going to be okay, snowflake."

"I know," Gray-tou said. "For the record, I know you didn't endanger Ikka."

"He did attract its attention," Ikka said, not masking a yawn. So much adrenaline today had her tired. "It was going away until Natsu-tou showed up."

"Wait, what? Really?"

When she nodded, Natsu hunched down looking penitent.

Gray shot him a wry, loving smile.

"Flame-brain. I've got your back."

"How did you kill it, Gray?" Lucy asked. "We need to know everything we can. When I spoke to…Jellal, he didn't have anything we don't already know."

The conversation moved on to what they knew—and didn't—about the demons, including the results of Ikka's experiments, which she'd shared with her fathers on the way back. Both had agreed it was good information, even while they'd insisted she 'not take off like that ever, _ever_ again.'

Shifting around, Ikka insinuated herself between Natsu and Gray and curled up to nap. They could wake her if the conversation went anywhere important.

* * *

Lucy was on edge for a hundred reasons. Jellal was here. _Fucking Jellal was here._

When she said his name, Erza had stared stiffly at the fire, grey and drawn. But then, Erza was doing little else this evening. So maybe it didn't mean anything?

Who was Lucy kidding? Of course it meant something. Erza was still flipping mad. Probably always would be.

She had the right.

After all, Lucy had slept with her ex: weren't there rules about that sort of thing? Wait a year, or something like that. But she hadn't. It had been a little over eight months when their nightly hanging-out-and-conversing turned into making out, which then turned into clothes coming off with amazing rapidity. On the very night Erza came home.

They'd both been a little desperate, Lucy and him, a little too lonely; plenty close after months of seeing each other through the hardship of rejection and mystery and silence from Erza. Of telling each other she hadn't meant it when she said those horrible things, that she would be back, that this was temporary. The pair knew each other's emotional patterns all too well. So it felt like a natural progression, not a sudden thing. But it had been sudden, and it had been thoughtless. They'd paid for that.

Erza was going to make them pay forever. For a stupid thing she did without thinking, and wished with all her being she could take back. The single greatest regret of Lucy's life. Or maybe the regret was ever letting go of Erza in the first place.

Lucy eyed the requip mage as the woman scooted over for Chelia and Wendy to sit nearer the fire, Erza as blank and desolate-looking as ever.

When Wendy poked a stick into the flames, Lucy finally registered: Wendy hadn't had a single episode since they'd arrived.

"What did you two discover today when you searched the forest?" Lucy asked, gaze trailing delightedly over her once-teammate.

The sky mage was thinner than she should've been, but as she clasped Chelia's hand in a solid grip, a tiny smile turned Wendy's lips up.

"Not everywhere in the forest has been trampled," Wendy said. "We found several stands of trees completely untouched, with animals around and everything—and there was something odd about that songbird."

Wendy glanced at Chelia, who shrugged.

"It looked normal to me, but Wendy says the coloring was off. I'm not as good at recognizing that stuff."

"You're good at everything," Wendy said softly, a wide grin splitting her face.

Blushing, Chelia smiled back.

It made Lucy's heart ache. It had been so long since she'd had anyone look at her like that. Not that you needed a romantic relationship to survive—and she certainly got on fine—but she missed it. Missed the looks and surprise hugs and giving fun gifts and getting to say the perfect words that would make someone's day.

"…not sure what it means," Wendy said, "but it's something. I also heard the most beautiful singing."

"Singing?" Lucy blinked in confusion. Across the fire from her, Erza and Natsu both tilted their heads.

"What kind of singing?" Erza asked after an explanation was not forthcoming.

"The singing," Wendy said obviously, looking around at everyone. "You must've heard it. It was gorgeous. It sounded like nature itself was laughing."

"That's really poetic," Lucy admitted. She tried not to think about what it meant if Wendy were hearing singing the rest of them couldn't hear. Wendy only relived things the mage wanted her too. Terrible things. This was completely off pattern. "I think I'd like to hear nature laughing, too."

Erza huffed. "Trust a writer to focus on lyricism when lives are in danger."

Lucy stood abruptly. This had to stop.

"I'm going to work out a bit." She stared Erza in the eye, the requip mage staring back in startlement. "Would you like to spar with me?"

Maybe hitting each other was the way to end the war of insults. It had worked for Natsu and Gray all those years ago—not that Lucy was expecting romance as the end goal, but they could perhaps find a way to coexist.

"Um." And to Lucy's surprise, she said, "sure."

Brushing off invisible dirt, Lucy waited for Erza to stand before leading her a little ways from the fire to a depression between two knolls.

"We just have to keep it down—" Lucy began.

"I know," Erza snapped. "Although if Natsu and Gray didn't attract any demons with their argument earlier, I don't think we'll draw anything we don't want."

 _Except your ire_ , Lucy thought.

Squaring off, Lucy made the first run, lunging and lashing out with her whip. The metal joints around her shoulder were stiff, slowing her down enough that Erza both parried and counterattacked in one blow. Lucy retreated.

They went back and forth like that, landing occasional hits. Erza had laser-sharp focus, and Lucy found herself enjoying the fight more than she intended: it was nice having an opponent who was better than her.

She wondered slightly if Erza was going easy on her, because much as Lucy had improved over the years, Erza had become unarguably _amazing._ But Erza's narrowed eyes and strained expression said she was being earnest about her efforts—it was something else putting her off her game.

Too many emotions, perhaps.

Was it even possible to fight their way through it all and become human toward each other again? Lucy had gotten used to the idea of not having Erza as a friend—she didn't like it, hated it, but had grown used to mourning a loss she would never replace. But she at least wanted to be civil. Talk about jobs. Not have to avoid Erza in fear of whatever snide remark she'd make to crush Lucy's heart once more.

When her distraction cost her a heavy blow to her right arm, Lucy stifled a yelp and refocused. Couldn't afford to be weak. Erza wouldn't kill her (probably), but that didn't mean this wasn't a serious match.

Another crack of her whip and Lucy had Erza's leg. Swiping out, Lucy managed to get Erza tumbling to one knee, imbalanced, and made to strike her exposed back.

The squeak of her armor warned her a second too late that her stiffness would make the move impossible. Too slow, Lucy didn't make impact before Erza was rising, twisting around to grab Lucy's arm and fling her to the ground.

The shock made all her bodily systems reset in a startling haze.

Panting, Lucy took a second to let the stars clear from her vision. When she looked up, Erza was holding out a hand.

Surprised, Lucy took it and Erza hoisted her up.

"Your armor squeals when you move," Erza said. "It's a dead giveaway."

"Nothing I can do about that, unfortunately. No matter how much I oil it, it still squeaks. I think it's rubbing against the bone."

"Gods," Erza exclaimed, meeting Lucy's eyes for a second. "That would be painful."

Lucy rotated her shoulder experimentally. "Nah, it's okay."

"Ready to go again?"

The touch of Erza's hand still burned on hers, those hard, strong fingers that had slid over her palm. Across from her, Erza wiped her hand on her pants.

Lucy sighed. "Ready."

So it continued, still sparring, still that intent look on Erza's face—except when Lucy made another small misstep, Erza pointed it out like before, tone not critical, just observant.

"And you have a tell," Erza added. "You twist at the waist when you lunge left. Might want to fix that."

"Thanks."

Erza jerked her head in a nod.

Despite the solemn look to her face, she wasn't meeting Lucy's eyes.

Whip lashing out, Lucy went for her again, but after a brief scuffle hand-to-hand, they tumbled down, Erza grabbing Lucy's arm as they fell and twisting it so that when they landed on the earth, Lucy was unable to escape.

"Another win for me," Erza said.

"I hadn't kept track," Lucy lied, panting up at her. There was just enough firelight down in the little dell for Erza's graceful features to be thrown into stark relief. Light and dark. Curves and angles.

Still staring at her, Erza shrugged.

"We're tied," she said, which was also a lie. Erza had won three of four.

Trying to read those dark eyes leaning over her, Lucy was a second too long in responding. Raising an eyebrow, Erza released her arm and sat back a little, staring down at her. Suddenly, Lucy was very small. Erza crouched over her, Lucy halfway on her back, so vulnerable and exposed.

"You're lying," Lucy said.

"Maybe." Erza looked away. "I'm heading back. I want to get enough sleep."


End file.
